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MEMOIR 

OP 

FELIX NEFF. 



AMHERST: 

J. S. & C, ADAMS, PRINTERS* 



MEMOIR 



OF 



FELIX NEFF, 

PASTOR OF THE HIGH ALPS. 

AND OF 

HIS LABOURS AMONG THE FRENCH PROTEST- 
ANTS OF DAUPHINE, 

A REMNANT OF THE PRIMITIVE CHRISTIANS OF GAUL. 



BY 

WILLIAM STEPHEN GILLY, M.A, 

PREBEISDARY OF DURHAM, AND VICAR OF NORHAM. 



PHILADELPHIA : 

CAREY & LEA— CHESNUT STREET. 
1832. 



o 



CONTENTS. 



PAGE 

Introduction ....... 13 



CHAPTER I. 

Neff 's Birth and Education — His first Tastes and Occupa- 
tion — His Military Career — Leaves the Army and be- 
comes a Probationer for Holy Orders — Exercises the 
Functions of a Probationer in the Swiss Cantons. 49 



CHAPTER II. 



Neff goes to France to officiate at Grenoble and Mens. — 
His Observations on National Churches. — The Nature 
of his Charge at Mens. — His Laborious Duties. — Re- 
marks on the Effects produced by Sacred Music. — Neff 's 
Method with his Catechumens. ... 56 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER III. 

Neff 's difficulties as to ordination — His reasons for not be- 
ing- ordained by the Genevan Clergy — Goes to England 
for his diploma — His return to France and reception at 
Mens — His nomination as Pastor of the High Alps — 
His first visit to the mountain hamlets of his parish 84 



CHAPTER IV. 



Description of the department of the High Alps — Resti- 
tution of Protestant rights — Organization of Reformed 
Churches of France — Nature and extent of Neff's pas- 
toral charge — Henry Oberlin — Description of the Val- 
leys of Fressiniere and Queyras, and of Neff's parish— 
The pass of the Guil — Neff at Arvieux, and in his pres- 
bjrtery at La Chalp. His progress through his parish 
— San Veran — Pierre Grosse — Foussillarde— The Pas- 
tor's manifold duties — Neff's winter journey to Val Fres- 
siniere — Palons — The Rimasse — Dormilleuse — Neff 's 
description of Dor-milleuse, and of the condition in 
which he found the remains of the primitive Christians 
there — His perilous labours there . . . 104 



chapter v. 



Meff org-anizesvUeunions, or Prayer-meetings — His opin- 
ion of the necessity of such meetings — Neff's last ex- 
hortation to his flock on the subject — His exhortations 



CONTENTS. 



examined — An inquiry into the effects and utility of 
Prayer-meeting's — The sentiments of Thomas Scott not 
in favour of them — Those of Bishop Heber the same — 
Observations on Family Worship . . . 140 



CHAPTER VI. 



Neff at Champsaur— His difficulties there — From Champ- 
saur to Val Fressiniere — His Employments from break 
of day to midnight — His account of the Consecration of 
the new Church of Violins — His discussion with a Vau- 
dois Pastor — Wretched condition of the Natives of Val 
Fressiniere — An affecting- Incident — Neff institutes as- 
sociations of the Bible and Missionary Societies among 
his Alpines — Passage of the Col d'Orsiere — Progress of 
his Catechumens at Champsaur — Laments over the lev- 
ity of some of his Flock — Prevents the appointment of 
an unworthy Pastor at Champsaur . . ♦ 150 



CHAPTER VII. 



Neff's method and good understanding with the Roman 
Catholics — His interview with a Romish priest — A fam- 
ily sketch — The convert of Arvieux — A death-bed scene 
— The Mission — Controversies — Anecdote — The Cure — 
Palons— The shepherdess Mariette . . .175 



CONTENTS. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



Neff's self-denial — Reminiscences in Val Fressiniere and 
Val Q,ueyras — The Alpine Pastor's duties and mode of 
life — Passion week in Dormilleuse and Val Fressini- 
ere 201 



CHAPTER IX. 



Neff's extraordinary influence over his Flock — How ob- 
tained — His improvements introduced into the condition 
of the Alpines — Their wretched state previously to his 
arrival — Proposes to himself the example of Oberlin — 
The Aqueduct — The Christian Advocate — Neff a Teach- 
er of Agriculture — Neff at the Fair of St. Crepin — Ob- 
servations 216 



chapter x. 



Neff's caution in the choice of hi3 catechist. — Neff in hi3 
schools. — Works at the building of a school-room in 
Dormilleuse — Establishes and conducts a Normal school 
for the training of catechists and schoolmasters — The 
difficulties of this undertaking — The farewell repast — 
Neff's remarks on the characters of the young men of 
his adult school, and on the effects produced by it — 
Observations on the state of public instruction in 
France 234 



CONTENTS, 



CHAPTER XI. 



NefFs strength fails — Winter horrors of Dormilleuse — Neff 
obliged to return to Switzerland — Parting Scenes — Neff 
goes to the baths of Plombieres — His last address to his 
Alpine flock— His sufferings and patience — His last 
hours — His death at Geneva .... 264 



CHAPTER XII. 



Review of Neff 's character — Its value as an example — 
His practical wisdom and usefulness — His prudence and 
caution — His gentleness of spirit — His conciliating man- 
ners — Two remarkable traits — Neff compared with Ber- 
nard Gilpin, George Herbert, Oberlin, and Henry Mar- 
tyn — Testimonies to NefFs services . . 290 



Postscript 309 



INTRODUCTION. 



When a volume is sent from the press, containing 
memorials of persons and places unknown to the 
world, and the author claims the attention not 
only of those, who read for amusement principal- 
ly, but also of the learned and the reflecting, he 
must expect some such questions as these to be 
asked : Upon what documents are these state- 
ments founded ? From what original papers are 
these memoirs composed 1 How came the au- 
thor acquainted with scenes and people, whose 
history he alleges to be of moment to society at 
large, but whose names are perfectly new to us ? 
How has he had access to records, which we did 
not know to be in existence 1 I hope to answer 
these enquiries satisfactorily, and to show that 
those, who have extended their rambles to some 
of the obscurest corners of civilized Europe, or 
who have been poring over the most neglected, 
dull, and wearisome pages of writers and chroni- 
clers of days long since, may bring facts to light 
which had escaped notice, and many illustrate 
some of the most important subjects in history. 
It has been my good fortune to have had op- 
, portunities of examining the treasures of ecclesi- 
2 



14 INTRODUCTION. 

astical history, in libraries rich in such stores ; and 
the more I have read, the more I have felt con- 
vinced that the secluded glens of Piemont are not 
the only retreats, where the descendants of 
primitive christians may be found. Under 
this term I mean to speak of persons who have in- 
herited a Christianity, which the Church of Rome 
has not transmitted to them, and who, from fa- 
ther to son, have essentially preserved the mode 
of faith, and the form of discipline, which were 
received, when the Gospel was first planted in 
their land. I had discovered ample reason to 
believe, that there is scarcely a mountain region 
in our quarter of the globe, which is poor, and un- 
inviting, and difficult of access, where the primi- 
tive faith, as it was preached by the' earliest 
messengers of the truth, did not linger for many 
ages, after the Romish Hierarchy had established 
itself in the richer countries, and in the plains ; 
and moreover, that there are still many mountain 
districts, where the population has continued 
Christian, from generation to generation, to the 
present hour ; Christian, in non-conformity with 
the church usurping the appellation, Catholic. 
It was their obscurity and non-intercourse with 
the world, during the period of almost general 
submission to the Romish yoke, which preserved 
them from corruption. Traces of such churches 
in the Alps, in the Pyrenees, and in the Apen- 
nines, are clearly discernible in the Canons of 
Councils and in the writings of most of the Rom- 
ish annalists and controversialists of France,Spain 
and Italy, up to the great epoch of Papal supre- 
macy in the eleventh century; and the light, 



INTRODUCTION. 15 

which modern researches is casting every year 
upon the history of nations, helps us to perceive, 
that the chain, which connects the Primitive and 
the Protestant Churches, is unbroken in various 
places, where it was supposed to have been dis- 
severed. There are very few readers, who do not 
imagine, that every vestige of the Albigensians 
was swept from the earth, during the crusades of 
Simon de Montfofd, and that the ancient churches 
of Provence and Dauphine,which formed the stock, 
on which the reformed congregations of the south 
of France were grafted in the sixteenth century, 
were utterly cut down, root and branch, after the 
revocation of the Edict of Nantes. This, howev- 
er, was not the case : some few remnants were 
spared ; and families in the remote valleys of the 
Pyrenees, and the Alps, have been permitted to 
experience the promise of the Redeemer, "where 
two or three are gathered together in my name, 
there am I in the midst of them." These have 
preserved the pure knowledge which their fore- 
fathers transmitted to them, and the scriptural 
greeting " Aquila and Priscilla salute you in the 
Lord, with the Church which is in their house," 
has oftentimes been passing from one secluded 
spot to another, when all were supposed to have 
been dragooned into the service of the Mass. And 
not only so, but in some few instances, whole 
communes, or parishes, have refused to submit, 
even outwardly, to the exactions of Romish usur- 
pation. 

The following pages record an example of this. 

My belief, that the dreary wildernesses of the 
Alpine provinces of France might still be har- 



16 INTRODUCTION. 

bouring some of these descendants of the primi- 
tive Christians of Gaul, was confirmed by a letter 
which I received in the winter of 1826, from the 
Rev. Francis Cunningham, to whom the Protest- 
ant cause owes much. His frequent journeys, 
and correspondence, and his unlimited philanthro- 
py, have put him in the way of knowing much 
that is going on among all that is truly Christian 
on the Continent. He was greatly instrumental 
in bringing the imperishable name of Oberlin un- 
der the notice of English readers, and to him my 
grateful thanks are due, for the first information 
I received of NerT, and his Christian labours. The 
letter, to which I allude, contained the informa- 
tion that Felix Nefif, a young clergyman, was then 
toiling among a people, in Dauphine, so poor, that 
they had no means of providing salaries for min- 
isters or schoolmasters : and so little favored by 
nature, that for seven months out of twelve, their 
land lay buried in snow. Two years afterwards 
Mr. Cunningham sent me a paper, drawn up by 
NerT himself, describing the nature of his charge, 
and some of the difficulties he had to encounter. 
I now present the substance of that paper to the 
reader, as an explanatory preface, which will at 
once put him in possession of some of the circum- 
stances which ought to render the name of NerT 
himself, and of his Alpines, dear to all who ven- 
erate heroic zeal, and devoted benevolence. 

" In those dark times, when the Dragon, of 
whom St. John speaks,* made war with the rem- 
nant of the seed, which kept the commandments 

* Rev. xii. 17. 



INTRODUCTION. 17 

of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ, 
some of those, who escaped from the edge of the 
sword, found a place of refuge among the moun- 
tains. It was then that the most rugged valleys, 
of the French department of the High Alps, were 
peopled by the remains of those primitive Chris- 
tians,* who, after the example of Moses, when he 
preferred the reproach of Christ to the riches of 
Egypt, changed their fertile plains for a frightful 
wilderness. But fanaticism still pursued them, 
and neither their poverty, nor their innocence, nor 
the glaciers and precipices among which they 
dwelt, entirely protected them ; and the caverns 
which served them for churches, were often wash- 
ed with their blood. Previously to the Reforma- 
tion, the Valley of Fressiniere was the only place 
in France where they could maintain their ground, 
and even here they were driven from the more 
productive lands, and were forced to retreat to 
the very foot of the glacier, where they built the 
village of Dormilleuse. This village, constructed 
like an eagle's nest, upon the side of a mountain, 
was the citadel where a small portion that was 
left established itself, and where the race has con- 
tinued, without any mixture with strangers, to 
the present day. Others took up their dwelling 
at the bottom of a deep glen, called La Combe, 
a rocky abyss, to which there is no exit, where 
the horizon is so bounded, that, for six months 
of the year, the rays of the sun never penetrate. 
These hamlets, exposed to avalanches, and the 
falling of rocks, and buried under snow half the 

* Les restes des Chretiens Primitifs, 

2* 



18 INTRODUCTION. 

year, consist of hovels, of which some are with- 
out chimneys and glazed windows, and others 
have nothing but a miserable kitchen and a stable, 
which is seldom cleaned out more than once a 
year, and where the inhabitants spend the greater 
part of the winter with their cattle, for the sake of 
the warmth. The rocks, by which they are en- 
closed, are so barren, and the climate is so severe, 
that there is no knowing how these poor Alpines, 
with all their simplicity and temperance, contrive 
to subsist. Their few sterile fields hang over pre- 
cipices, and are covered, in places, with enormous 
blocks of granite, which roll every year from the 
cliffs above. Some seasons even rye will not 
ripen there. The pasturages are, many of them, 
inacsessible to cattle, and scarcely safe for sheep. 
Such wretched soil cannot be expected to yield 
any thing more than what will barely sustain life, 
and pay the taxes, which owing to the unfeeling 
negligence of the inspectors, are too often levied 
without proper consideration for the unproductive- 
ness of the land. The clothing of these poor crea- 
tures is made of coarse wool, which they dress 
and weave themselves. Their principal food is 
unsifted rye ; this they bake into cakes in the au- 
tumn so as to last the whole year. 

" The revocation of the Edict of Nantes, in 1686, 
deprived them of their ministers, and we may 
judge what their condition must have been for 
many years ; but still there was not a total famine 
of the Word among them.. They met together to 
read the Bible and to sing psalms ; and although 
they had an ancient church in Dormilleuse, they 
were building a second in La Combe, which was 



ey 

r as 



INTRODUCTION. 19 

not finished when I first arrived there. Such was 
their situation when Providence directed me to 
their valleys in 1823. They received me most 
gladly ; they attended my preaching with eager- 
ness, and gave themselves up to my guidance in 
all that I undertook for their improvement. The 
limits of this short notice will not permit me to 
enter into any detail of my proceedings, during the 
three years and a half that I remained with them. 
I will merely state that my instructions were not 
unproductive of good ; that many young men have 
been put in the way of opening schools during the 
winter; that the sunday-schools have been fre- 
quented by adults who could not profit by the 
lessons given in the day-schools open to younger 
persons. Up to this period the girls and the 
women had beenalmost entirely neglected. With 
the assistance of subscriptions from foreigners, one 
school-room has been built, and another is in pre- 
paration. Several of the inhabitants have shown 
a strong inclination to take advantage of the in- 
formation, which I have given them on agriculture 
and architecture, and in the principles of some of 
the useful sciences, which hitherto were utterly 
unknown to them. I have distributed many 
Bibles, New Testaments, and other books of piety 
among them, which, I have been pleased to find, 
were not only received with gratitude, but such as 
were sold were readily purchased at prime cost. 
In truth, the religious knowledge communicated 
to them has been so blessed, that you would not 
find in any part of France more genuine piety or 
simplicity of manners. But still it can hardly be 
expected that this improvement will be permanent, 



20 INTRODUCTION. 

considering their physical, moral, and religious 
condition, so long as they are without the minis- 
tration of regular pastors. Up to the present time 
the Valley of Fressiniere has not a pastor of its 
own. It is served in connexion with the churches 
of Val Queyras, which are ten leagues distant, on 
the other side of the Durance, and are separated 
by a lofty range of mountains, whose passes are 
not only very difficult, but absolutely dangerous 
in the winter. The visits of the pastor are, there- 
fore, necessarily few and at long intervals, and the 
people are obliged to wait his convenience, until 
they can have their children baptized, the nuptial 
blessing pronounced, or any of the church services 
performed. Moved by the destitute condition of 
these mountaineers, who are endeared to me, not 
only by their own amiable disposition, but by their 
interesting origin, I would most willingly devote 
myself to their service, and submit to all manner 
of deprivation and fatigue as their pastor ; but 
the frequent journeys from one church to another, 
in the Valleys of Fressiniere and Queyras, have 
been too much for me, and total exhaustion, pro- 
ceeding from this cause, and from a stomach com- 
plaint, brought on by living on unwholesome food, 
have so disabled me, that I am obliged to remove 
myself for the present, with very slight hopes of 
ever being so restored as to be able to return. 

" At this juncture, when respect for the adher- 
ents of the primitive doctrines and forms of Chris- 
tianity has manifested itself so conspicuously in 
behalf of the Protestants of the Valleys of Piemont, 
I have thought it my duty to give publicity to the 
fact, that their brethren of the French Alps are 



INTRODUCTION. 21 

equally objects of interest, and much more in- 
digent, although they have hitherto remained un- 
known and unnoticed. It is therefore my inten- 
tion to publish a history of this chinch, in which 
I shall not only give a detailed account of its 
present condition, but shall trace its origin up to 
the remotest antiquity." 

There was enough in this modest allusion of 
Neff to his own labours, and in his generous 
expression of concern for the Alpines of Dau- 
phin©, to make me anxious to know more both 
of this apostle of the Alps himself, and of his 
flock ; and as I was about to make a journey to 
the Waldenses of Piemont, I determined to visit 
the sublime and secluded scenery of the Val 
Fressiniere, either on my way to Italy or on my 
return. This resolution was carried into effect, 
and I had the gratification of traversing nearly 
the whole of the mountain region, which is now 
consecrated to the memory, not only of martyrs 
of former times, but of an eminent confessor of 
our own days, who, combining in his individual 
character the usefulness of the pastor Oberlin, 
and the devotedness of the missionary Martyn, 
did spend and was spent in the service of his 
Redeemer. Neff had gone to his rest a few 
months only before my arrival at Dormilleuse; 
and from all that I saw and heard of the effects 
of his ministry, I judged that a memoir of his 
short, but extraordinary career, would not be an 
uninteresting addition to the christian records of 
the age in which we live. Having explored the 
scenes where he prepared the children of the 
mountain for the coming of their Lord, and made 



22 INTRODUCTION. 

myself acquainted with the locality of every 
hamlet within his extensive charge, I hope to be 
better able to elucidate the present and former 
history of this Alpine church, than any person 
who has not enjoyed the same opportunities of 
picking up information on the spot. The notes 
of my journey contain many anecdotes of NerT, 
supplied by those who knew him, and observa- 
tions on the country and its peculiarities, while 
its grand scenery was before my eyes. But still, 
with all these advantages, I could not have done 
justice to my subject, had I not been indebted to 
the great kindness of Miss Mary Elliott, of West- 
field Lodge, for the journals of Neff himself. 
These form the principal source from which the 
substance of the memoir was drawn ; and if I had 
been put in possession of all the circumstances 
relating to those papers, I believe I should have 
had to state, that many of NefT's noble projects 
could not have been carried into effect, but for 
the benevolent friend in England to whom his 
journals were consigned. I have further acknowl- 
edgments to make to the Rev. Richard Burgess, 
British chaplain at Geneva, for the transmission 
of a small tract, lately published under the title 
of " Notice sur Felix NerT, Pasteur dans les 
Hautes Alpes." From this I have enriched the 
narrative with recollections, that have been pre- 
served of NefT's early life and of his dying mo- 
ments ; but not having found any trace, either in 
this " Notice," or in the journals, of his intended 
history and origin of the church of the French 
Alps, I conclude that NerT was disabled by long 



INTRODUCTION. 23 

illness from carrying his design into effect, and I 
have therefore attempted to supply the defect, by 
giving the result of my own researches. I have 
also filled up the relation with such remarks as 
naturally occurred to one, who had visted the 
scene under description, and conversed with the 
extraordinary race, of whom it may literally be 
said, " strong is thy dwelling-place, and thou put- 
test thy nest in a rock." 

But before I enter upon the relation of NefPs 
personal exertions, I must clear the way, by de- 
scribing the situation of the country where he 
was the hard-working pastor, and by explaining 
the nature of the evidence which maybe adduced 
in support of the hypothesis, that his mountain 
flock are descendants of the primitive Christians 
of Gaul. This exposition will, in fact, give a 
synoptical view of the Alpine churches of France 
from the earliest times. 

I. — Situation of the Country- 

The scene of Neff's labours is to be found in the 
most elevated region of France ; in the heart of 
that mountain territory, which lies between the 
Rhone and the barrier Alps, which separate France 
from Italy, and in the same degree of latitude, 
and within a hundred miles of the Protestant 
Valleys of Piemont. It is necessary to be minute 
in describing the exact situation of the country, 
and to give it both its ancient and its modern 
designation, because, without this, the reader may 
fall into the inveterate error, that all Alpine Pro- 



24 INTRODUCTION. 

testants must be Swiss.* Notwithstanding all 
that has been written lately about those Italian 
Protestants, the Vaudois or Waldenses of the 
Valleys of Piemont, there is scarcely one person 
in ten, to whom their history is otherwise well 
known, who does not yet run into the mistake, 
that they are natives of Switzerland and not of 
Italy. Lest any confusion should arise as to the 
locality of Neff's flock, it must be borne in mind, 
that they are inhabitants of that province, which 
is delineated in the maps of ancient Gaul under 
the name of Gallia Narbonensis. Alpes Mari- 
time, and Caturiges, are subdivisions of Gallia 
Narbonensis, within the limits of which, we shall 

* So little is known of the Protestants of Dauphine and 
Provence, and their origin, that the following- is part of 
the account given of the massecres at Cabrieres and Me- 
rindol, in the sixteenth century, by the author of the life 
of Francis the First : cc The inhabitants of Cabrieres and 
Merindol had then a great inclination for the doctrines 
which Luther had so successfully promulgated, and which 
their neighbourhood to Germany and Switzerland had 
made these people more intimately acquainted with, than 
those of the surrounding French district. From being 
tolerated as they were at first, they began to indulge in 
that jealous insolence which is common to heretics of all 
descriptions, and not content with pursuing their own sys- 
tem of worship, they attacked that of the professors of the 
Church of Rome." 

The People here mentioned were not Lutherans, they 
were descendants of the primitive Christians of Gaul. 
Merindol and Cabrieres are not in the neighbourhood of 
Germany or Switzerland, they are villages on the Dur- 
ance in Provence, in the south of France. That the vic- 
tims were not fanatics, that they had indulged in no inso- 
lence, and had not assailed the Roman Catholics first, 
may be learnt from the Roman Catholic historian De 
Thou. , 



INTRODUCTION. 25 

find the city Embrodimum (the modern Embrun,) 
and the river Druentia, (now the Durance.) These 
give the exact bearings of the deep glens, in 
which the ancestors of the objects of our interest 
took refuge. In the maps of modern France, 
Embrun and the Durance, will be found in the 
province called Dauphine, or the Delphinate, and 
in the department styled "Les Hautes Alpes," 
or the high Alps, a name which well describes 
the nature of the country, and its formidable 
aspect. Ancient historians did not magnify the 
difficulties of traversing it when they spoke of the 
region of the Durance as presenting more impedi- 
ments to the passage of an army, than any other 
region in Gaul*. A writer, of the present day f 
lias represented the march of an army through 
this district to be utterly impossible, unless it be 
provided with the means of blasting the rocks, 
of throwing bridges over the terrible abysses that 
yawn on every side, and of cutting galleries on 
the edge of precipices. In one of the latest geo- 
graphical delineations^, the department is repre- 
sented as being walled in and intersected by high 
mountains, whose topics are covered with snow, 
having a soil and climate so variable, that if you are 
making a journey of two short days, you will be 
in the midst of smiling villages, enjoying a bright 
sky and warm sun, and delicious productions of 
the earth one day, and the next you will be shiver- 
ing with cold, and chilled with the sight of black 

*Livy lib. xxi. Silv. Ital. lib. xxxviii. f Sismondi. 

t" Tableau Geographique et Statistique du Department, 
des Hautes Alpes." 

3 



26 INTRODUCTION. 

rocks, or frozen snows, and despairing of obtaining 
a morsel of food to your taste. The author of a 
well written little book, entitled " Hannibal's Pas- 
sage of the Alps, by a member of the University 
of Cambridge," considers this to have been the 
region (and De Thou, the historian, was of the 
same opinion) where Hannibal found the greatest 
obstacles in forcing his way through the rugged 
depths, and over the lofty summits, w T hich lay in 
his line of march. " The appearance of the Alps 
(altitudo montium, nivesque ccelo prope immistae,) 
and the savage and dreary aspect of every thing 
animate and inanimate, around them, absolutely 
terrified the Carthagenians." That which will be 
thought as much to our purpose as the face of the 
country, is the character of the people there. The 
indomitable spirit imputed to their ancestors by 
ancient historians, has been inherited, from gen- 
eration to generation, by the mountaineers of more 
recent times ; and the compiler of the " Atlas of 
Gaul," enumerates them among the most resolute 
defenders of their liberties*. But the most ex- 
traordinary description of all is that, which is 
recorded in the pages of De Thou, and for this 
reason : what De Thou represented the mountain- 
eers of this territory to have been in the sixteenth 
century, Neff found them, with very little differ- 
ence, in the nineteenth ; and I myself saw them in 
1829, under circumstances which recalled the 
French historian's account strongly to my mind. 

* Atlas Novus Gallise. Amstelodami, 1649. "Incolae 
Mgini sunt libertatis suse assertatores et sestimatores, — 
miitaa contra hosten feroces." 



INTRODUCTION. 27 

" Of all these regions the Va] Fressiniere is the 
most repulsive and wild ; its soil is sterile and un- 
productive, and its inhabitants are most lament- 
ably poor. They are clothed in sheepskins, and 
they have no linen in use, either for their gar- 
ments or their beds. They sleep in the clothes 
which they wear during the day. They inhabit 
seven villages, and their houses are made of stone, 
with flat roofs, and mud cement. In these hovels 
the people and their cattle live together, and they 
often take refuge in caves when they expect an 
attack from their enemies, in one corner of which 
they themselves lie concealed, and, in the other, 
their sheep and kine. They subsist principally on 
milk and venison, and their occupation is tend- 
ing their cattle. They are skilful marksmen, and 
seldom miss either the chamois or the bear ; but 
from the filthy manner in which they devour the 
flesh of these animals, they become so offensive to 
the smell, that strangers can scarcely bear to be 
within scent of them. Happy in these their scanty 
resources, they are all equally poor alike ; but 
they have no mendicants among them, and, con- 
tented among themselves, they very seldom form 
either friendships or connexions with others. In 
this state of squalidness, which causes them to 
present a most uncouth appearance, it is surprising 
that they are very far from being uncultivated in 
their morals. They almost all understand Latin, 
and are able to write fairly enough. They under- 
stand also as much of French as will enable them 
to read the Bible, and to sing psalms ; nor would 
you easily find a boy among them, who, if he were 



28 INTRODUCTION. 

questioned as to the religious opinions, which they 
hold in common with the Waldenses, would not be 
able to give, from memory, a reasonable account of 
them. They pay taxes most scrupulously, and 
the duty of doing this forms an article of their con- 
fession of faith. But if they are prevented from 
making payment by civil wars, they lay apart the 
proper sum, and on the return of peace, they take 
care to settle with the royal tax gatherers*." 

De Thou gives the locality of these Alpines with 
equal precision. " As you proceed towards the 
east, from Embrum, the capital of the maritime 
Alps, when you have traveled about five leagues, 
the Valley of Queyras branches off towards the 
right, and that of Fressiniere towards the left hand. 
Between the two the ruins of the ancient city of 
Rama are still conspicuous. From thence, on the 
other side of the mountain ridge, a narrow pass is 
hewn out of the rock, by dint of human labour, 
and opens a w T ay across some difficult and rugged 
country, which is still called, by the natives, Han- 
nibal's road. In the direction towards Briancon, 
there is another valley, opening to the left, called 
Louise, from Louis XII. who gave it his own name 
in a moment of compunction for the injuries which 
he was well nigh about to inflict upon it, instead 
of the contumelious appellation of Val Pute, 
which it had received in contempt for the false 
religion of its inhabitants! , ; ' 

This is the Alpine desert where NefF sacri- 
ficed his life in the cause of pure religion, and its 
natives are the people, whom he considered to be 

* Thuani Hist. lib. xxvii. 
i Ibid, xxvii, 9. 



INTRODUCTION. 29 

the lineal and unmixed descendants of the first con- 
verts to Christianity, in the mountain province of 
Dauphine, in other words the remains of primitive 
Christians. 



II. — Evidence that the Alpine Protestant Congre- 
gations of Dauphine are the remains of the Prim- 
itive Christians of Gaul. 

It was my original intention to prefix, or to ap- 
pend to this work, a regular historical detail, and 
to transcribe such records as I have, in proof of the 
reality of the descent of our Alpines from a line of 
ancestors, who never worshipped God as they do at 
Rome, that is, after a manner which Protestants 
believe that God has forbidden. But when I came 
to commit my materials to paper, I found they 
were so voluminous, that it was necessary to re- 
cast my plan, and to give an outline only of the 
argument. My enquiries had led me through 
divers literary records of every century, contained 
in the sheets of Ecclesiastical History, or of Po- 
lemical Theology ; and in every centur) r up to the 
second, tracing the vestiges upwards in the line 
of antiquity, I found myself in the footsteps of 
Christians, dwelling in the Alpine Valleys of Dau- 
phine, who might claim fellowship with the primi- 
tive Christians of antiquity, and with the Protes- 
tants of modern times, in two characteristic points 
of resemblance: in their rejecting unscriptural 
helps to devotion, such as image worship, and the 
3* 



30 



INTRODUCTION. 



intercession of any but the one Mediator between 
God and man ; and in their steady resistance of 
unscriptural authority usurped by the bishops of 
Rome. 

Between the revocation of the Edict of Nantes 
in 1686, and the Edict ofTolerationbyLouis XVI., 
it was forbidden to exercise any form of religion 
in France, except the Roman Catholic ; but I have 
conversed with aged natives of Dormilleuse, Neff's 
principal village, who remember the tales which 
were told them by their fathers and grandfathers, 
ofVaupois pastors, harboured in their houses, at the 
risk of their lives, and crossing the Alps in disguise 
to administer the services of their church to families 
to whom the presence of those devoted men was like 
angels 5 visits — strengthening the weak, and con- 
firming the strong. I have also seen Bibles, printed 
in the seventeenth century, which have been hand- 
ed down from father to son, " the big hall Bible once 
their father's pride," and had been concealed from 
inquisitorial search by being buried in the earth. 
For the Christianity, not Romish, which prevailed 
in an unbroken line in this part of Dauphine, dur- 
ing a hundred years before the revocation of the 
Edict of Nantes, the reader may consult the gen- 
eral and ecclesiastical historians of France, who 
will place before him articles of synod and con- 
fessions of faith, which sufficiently identify the 
principles of the primitive and those of the re- 
formed churches. These authorities will also tell 
him, that this province had, at one period, as 
many as ninety-four Protestant pastors, and a Pro- 
testant University at Die, with an array of He- 



INTRODUCTION. 31 

brew, Greek, and Divinity professors, and a re- 
spectable body of teachers in different branches 
of science and literature*. 

The great muster in France, and the gathering 
of those, who, determined to vindicate their relig- 
ious rights, took place between the years 1550 and 
1572. The first national synod of Protestants 
was held in 1559, and in the twelve years that fol- 
lowed there were no less than seven synods. The 
places where some of these councils were held 
bear witness that from the centre of the kingdom, 
to its fatherest extremities, east, west, north, and 
south, the standard of religious independance had 
been displayed. At Paris, Poictiers, Orleans, 
Rochelle, Lyons, and Nismes, delegates assembled 
in council, and there represented churches which 
declared themselves reformed and Protestant. But 
some of these, particularly the delegates from 
parts of Dauphine and Provence, announced, 
" We consent to merge in the common cause, but 
we require no reformation, for our forefathers and 
ourselves have ever disclaimed the corruptions of 
the churches in communion with Rome. 5 ' 

I have not been able to ascertain the exact num- 
ber of the remains of the primitive Christians in 
Dauphine and Province between the years 1550 
and 1572 : the first being the date when the moun- 
tain churches of France began to have rest, and 
the second the epoch when they were frightfully 
wasted by the persecutions, subsequent upon the 
massacre of St. Bartholmew ; but in the begin- 



* Gallia Reformata, Vol. I. 



■**, 



32 INTRODUCTION. 

ning of the sixteenth century, we know that they 
amounted to 50,000. This enumeration is made 
in the report of an inquisitorial process issued 
against them in 1501. The destruction of most 
of their own manuscripts relating to their history^ 
at different periods of persecution, was so com- 
plete, that we should have had but few memorials 
to produce, had not the documents of their enemies 
furnished us with indisputable evidence. When 
the palace of the archbishop of Embrun was taken 
by the duke de Lesdiguieres in 1585, there w r as 
found, among the archiepiscopal archieves, a col- 
lection of papers, containing an account of pro- 
cesses from time to time against the non-conform- 
ists of Dauphine, and these are our authority for 
many of the statements that have been made. 
" Not being fully extirpated," is the language of 
the process, " they betook themselves to the ut- 
most parts of Dauphine, among the Alps, and in 
the caves of the mountains, places exceedingly 
difficult to approach, where more than 50,000 of 
them did inhabit." The same inquisitorial report, 
from which this extract is taken, makes mention 
of previous proceedings against our mountaineers 
for the same alleged crimes, viz. that " they con- 
sidered the Roman Church to be the Babylon of 
the Book of Revelations, and they believed it to be 
as efficacious to pray to God in a stable as in a 
church. For this cause the most reverend prelates 
of Embrun, and the inquisitors, have taken great 
pains to root them out." 

A Papal Bull of this period is another clue to 
guide us through the labyrinth. This instrument 
was dated 26 June 1487, and promised the apos- 



INTRODUCTION. 33 

tolic benediction to all who should distinguish 
themselves in the work of extermination, against 
those " inveterate heretics of the dioceses of Ly- 
ons, Vienne, and Embrun." It consecrated the 
war that was to be waged against them, under the 
high and holy name of a crusade, and invited all 
the faithful " to tread them under foot as venomous 
adders, and to destroy them." This humane re- 
commendation was followed up with zeal corres- 
ponding with the wishes of the holy Father at 
Rome. 

" The secular power was employed," said the 
report," under that valiant soldier the Lord Hugo 
de Palide, Count of Varax, and Lieutenant of 
Dauphine, who proceeded against them, on which 
they left their houses and betook them to the holes 
and secret places of the mountains, and the cliffs 
of the rocks, for their fortresses." 

Perrin gives a most lamentable account of the 
extirpation of the Protestants of Val Louis in 1488. 
" When the king's lieutenant arrived with his troops 
in the valley, none of the inhabitants were found, 
for they had all retired into the caverns on the 
highest mountains, having carried with them their 
little ones, and all that they could transport there 
for nourishment. The lieutenant commanded a 
great quantity of wood to be laid at the entrance 
of those caverns, to burn or smoke them out. 
Some were slain in attempting to escape, others 
threw themselves headlong on the rocks below, 
others were smothered ; there were afterwards 
found within the caverns 400 infants stifled in the 
arms of their dead mothers. It is believed, as a 
certain fact, that 3000 persons perished on that 



34 INTRODUCTION. 

occasion in the valley. In a word the religionists 
there were wholly exterminated, so that from that 
time forward it was peopled with new inhabitants, 
and none of the ancient race ever established 
themselves there again." 

A horrible crusade had been carried on pre- 
viously to this, in the year 1478, when even the 
ruthless Louis XI. was so disgusted by the cruelties 
of the inquisitors, and by the confiscations in the 
valleys of Fressiniere and Argentiere, that he issu- 
ed an edict to check them. This was dated Arras, 
May 18, 1478. 

Advancing still higher up, into those gloomy 
ages when it was guilt, for which there was no 
pardon, to hold religious opinions different from 
the papal clergy, I find that Perrin, the Walden- 
sian historian just quoted, had but very limited 
information, when he spoke of the persecution of 
1380 as the first against the nonconformists of 
Danphine. The annals of the prelates of Embrun* 
acquaint us, that in 1360 Gulielmus de Bardis 
distinguished his episcopate, by directing fierce 
warfare against the nonconformists of his diocese. 
Bertrand de d'Eux is represented as covering 
himself with glory in 1337 after the same manner. 
A hundred years before this, I find Aumarus stain- 
ing his crozier in the blood of these who would not 
acknowledge the supremacy of the Roman pontiff. 
His immediate predecessor, Bernard Chabert, first 
carried fire and sword into the plains of Languedoc 
by the side of Simon de Montfort, and then pur- 
sued the Albigensian fugitives, when they thought 

*Gall. Christiana, Tom. I. 



INTRODUCTION. 35 

to take refuge in the fastnesses of the Durance 
among brethren of the same faith. Raimond de 
Salvagris, archbishop of Embrun in 1210*, was 
equally on the alert against the impugners of 
papal infalibility. These two last mentioned 
prelates achieved so much against the mountain- 
eers, who would not prove false to the creed of 
their forefathers, that it was a saying of the times 
that a sufficient quantity of lime and stone could 
not be procured, to build prisons for those who 
were convicted of hostility to the religion of 
Rome. 

I have thus traced in this Alpine region the pre- 
valence of the same religious principles at the 
beginning of the thirteenth century, which at- 
tracted NerT's notice in the nineteenth. The 
Romanists allow that this may be done, but they 
say that such principles were then new to the 
Christian world, and that the spirit of enmity 
against their church, which has since spread over 
great part of Europe, and which gave birth, as 
they pretend, to the Waldensian separatists of 
Spain, France and Italy, and to the Protestant 
communities of Great Britain, Switzerland, Ger- 
many, and other countries, was first cherished in 
the bosom of the followers of Waldo, when they 
were chased fiom Lyons in 1172, and fled into 
the valleys of Dauphine and Piemont. The Wal- 
denses, or members of the mountain churches, 

tlbid. 



36 INTRODUCTION. 

whether of Spain, Italy or France* (for the term 
Waldenses means nothing more than natives of 
mountain valley's^) were not sects ; they were true 
component parts of the body of Christ, and faith- 
ful asserters of the truth as it is in Jesus, when 
others declined from it. 

But I am not going now into the theological 
question, or into the wide field of the genera] 
enquiry 3 my present business is to connect the 
Christians of Dauphine, with the Christians of 
primitive times, and to fix the attention of my 
readers upon the broad partition wall, which, 
through the whole of the dark and middle ages 
divided certain religionists of this province from 
those, who consented to receive spiritual law from 
Rome. 

:c A sect which took its rise from Peter Waldo, 
in 1172." This is the calumny which has been 
so long perpetuated against the churches of the 
mountains on each side of the Alps. What can 
we adduce in refutation of it, with regard to the 
nonconforming churches of Dauphine? Were 
there no determined confessors in this province, 
who opposed themselves to the phalanx of the 
Vatican, and declared Rome to be Babylon, and 
her canons and articles of faith and discipline to 
be unscriptural, before the year 1172 ? It is the 

* The more the remote valleys of the Alps and Pyrenees 
are visited, and the history of their natives is developed, 
this truth will emerge into elear and bright light — that 
the Italian Waldenses, the Albigenses, the subalpins of 
Dauphine and Provence, and the Pyrenean Waldenses > 
were all independent of each other, and remains or bran- 
ches of the primitive churches in those parts. 






INTRODUCTION. 37 

highest satisfaction to fathom among the archives 
of an adversary, and to draw, from the deposi- 
tories of his documents, evidence to establish our 
own case. From the same Romish Chronicles*, 
which tell us that the hierarchy of Embrun was 
persecuting the congregations of Val Fressiniere, 
at a period when Perrin (who could find no men- 
tion of it in Protestant annals,) meekly hoped 
that his brethren of the mountains were unmoles- 
ted, from these we learn that the bishops of Vai- 
son, a diocese in the province of Dauphine, were 
nominated and received their investiture, not 
from the pope, but from their native and petty 
sovereigns, the lords of the territory. We are 
even informed by what right they exercised this 
patronage, namely, in virtue of their descent from 
Faida, hieress of Gilbert, Count of Provence. 
The sovereign pontiff fulminated his protests, 
his interdicts, and his excomunications, when- 
ever a new bishop was made, as all the popes had 
been taught to do by Gregory VII. who denounced 
anathemas against every one, who should venture 
to have any opinion of his own on matters of re- 
ligion. But the maledictions of Heaven were 
especially proclaimed against all, who should take 
any part in the distribution of church dignities 
without papal permission. There was to be 
no election, no investiture, no conferring even 
temporalities upon bishops or clergy, but in the 
name and under the authority of the pontifical 
seal. Nevertheless in the middle of the twelfth 
century, thirty years before the alleged origin of 

♦Gall. Christiana. 

4 



38 INTRODUCTION. 

any systematic resistance of the will that was to 
guide all Christendom, we find distinct mention 
of a series of episcopal elections without any 
authority from the pope, in spite of the anathemas 
which were issued to prevent such proceedings. 
This, however, is only one example — we are 
directed by other Romish documents to still more 
convincing witnesses, that the " new r sect" of 1172 
was a venerable branch of the apostolical stem. 
There is a large collection of ancient epistles and 
documents, published by two Benedictine Monks, 
Marten and Durand*, which the editors state to 
have been preserved in the manuscript libraries 
of certain cathedrals and monasteries. In the 
first volume of this curious publication, there is 
the copy of a letter addressed to Pope Lucius II. 
in 1144, in which the writer describes to his 
holiness the great influence of a religious commu- 
nity of Dauphine, which had " its divers degrees, 
its neophytes, its priests and even its bishops, as 
we have. It maintains that sins are not remitted 

by the sprinkling of water only in baptism 

that the eucharist, and the imposition of hands 
administered by our clergy, avail nothing" " Every 
part of France," such is the concluding sentence of 
the letter, " is polluted by the poison issuing from 
this region." 

Other letters, addressed by the celebrated Peter, 
Abbot of Clugny, to the bishops of Embrun, Gap 
and Die, all in Dauphine, between the years 1120 
and 1134, contain pressing exhortations to those 

* " Veterum Scriptorum et Monumentorum Amplissima 
Collection Paris. 1724. 



INTRODUCTION. 30 

prelates to check opinions, which had taken fast 
hold in their dioceses, and had spread from thence 
into Gascony and Languedoc. 

" You must still persevere," said the pious ab- 
bot, " you must root out the mischief from its 
hiding places*, by preaching against it : but if that 
will not do, and if necessary, by an armed force." 

The third canon of the council of Thoulouse, 
held A. D. 1119, bears witness to the activity of 
Christians in the same quarter, who were then 
"busily agitating the questions of the real presence 
in infant baptism,and validity of sacerdotal orders." 

These are some of the essential questions of 
controversy between all Protestant churches, (es- 
pecially those of the Alps,) and the Romish church, 
and the records of the eleventh century prove, that 
even then they were not new to France, and more 
particularly, that they were not new to the Alpine 
regions of Dauphine. In 1050, a Romish contro- 
versfclist complained to the king of France, that 
Berengarius was re-introducing there that OLD\ 
matter of difference, the eucharistic discussion; 
and in 1025, when some recusants were accused 
before a public tribunal at Arras, of holding sen- 
timents such as NefPs churches of Vals Fressini- 
ere and Queyras, and other Protestant churches 
now hold, it came out, in evidence, that they had 
acquired their opinions of certain strangers from 
the Alpine borders of Italy:}: ! 

What then becomes of the Romish fable, that 

* " Latibula." Gall. Christiana, Tom. i. 

t Labbffii Con. Tom. ix. p. 1061. 

t Dacherii Spicilegium, Vol. xiii. p. 2. 



40 INTRODUCTION. 

the mountain con g legation of Dauphine was a 
new sect in 1172, when we can thus distinctly 
trace the existence of Alpine churches, opposed 
to Rome, in the same province, one hundred and 
fifty years before ? And what lights were there 
at that dark period, which would enable the poor 
illiterate shepherds and herdsmen to see their way 
out of the gloom, into which the ignorance and 
wickedness of the age had cast men of all ranks 
and stations ? If in 1025 Christian communities 
could be found, in remote glens and forests, who 
worshipped God and his Christ without the aid of 
images, and without any of those adjuncts and 
helps, to which the Romish churches then had re- 
course, the probability is, not that they had learnt 
a new lesson, but that they were practising a very 
old one^ which had been handed down to them 
from their fathers. Well then, what do we dis- 
cover in the ecclesiastical or general history of 
this Alpine province, previously to the ^feiod 
which we have just been examining, whichleads 
us to suppose that religious opinions or practices 
were then cherished there, which were not in ac- 
cordance with the Romish churches ? 

It was about the middle of the ninth century, 
that the Bishops of Rome established their pre- 
tensions in France : before that epoch a certain 
degree of deference was paid to their decisions, 
while their jurisdiction was by no means acknowl- 
edged. But at the very time when they were 
making rapid advances towards the object of their 
ambition, the prelates of the sees which lie be- 
tween the Rhone and the Alps, resisted their en- 
croachments on some very material points. For 



INTRODUCTION. 41 

example, there is a rescript of pope John VIII. 
complaining, in 877, that the archbishop of Em- 
brim had consecrated a bishop of Vienne, ac- 
cording to the ancient formulary of the Gallic 
churches, and not in conformity with the ritual 
prescribed at Rome. And just at the crisis, when 
the prelates of Dauphine began to be more obe- 
dient to their foreign master, the Saracens inva- 
ded the province, the bishops of Embrun fled, 
and the see was left many years withouti ts head. 
This was after the year 916, and thus the re- 
mains of the primitive Christians, in the valleys 
of the Durance, were left many years without the 
presence of an oppressive and proselyting heirar- 
chy, at the very time when Romish influence was 
on the alert elsewhere. When the foreign inva- 
ders were expelled, troubles of a different kind 
proved favourable to the independent spirit of the 
mountaineers. The feudal lords of the territory 
carried their exactions so far, as to exasperate the 
citizens of walled towns, who shut their gates 
against their former masters. To obtain parti- 
zans, the barons granted extraordinary privileges 
to the occupiers of lands, and brought the rural 
population into a state of hostility with the in- 
habitants of the towns. The Romish bishops and 
clergy sided with the latter ; so that while they 
were bringing over to their interests the dwellers 
in cities, they were making less progress among 
the people of the field and the hill-country. 

It has been already observed, that the great 
distinguishing marks of the Primitive and Pro- 
testant churches, is the rejection of all helps to 
devotion, which have not the sanction of Scrip- 
4* 



42 INTRODUCTION. 

ture. The prominent feature of the Romish 
Church is the adoption of such helps. Image 
worship is one of these. To show that image 
worship was a matter of abhorrence throughout 
the region of our inquiry, in the centuries through 
which we desire to trace the existence of a com- 
munity protesting from age to age against the 
dogmas of Eome, is a great step towards the ac- 
complishment of our object. In the ninth, 
eighth, and seventh centuries, (still tracking the 
vestiges of the primitive Christians of the Alpine 
regions of France upwards, from more recent pe- 
riods, to the earliest times of their conversion,) 
there were signal testimonies given in the church- 
es of this quarter of their adherence to forms of 
worship unadultered by the introduction of ex- 
ternal representations. In the eighth century, 
Agobald, archbishop of Lyons, wrote a work, 
which he called " a Treatise on Pictures and Im- 
ages," and in which he pronounced image wor- 
ship to be idolatry. A more able refutation of 
the errors on this subject has never been written 
either before or since. One passage I cannot but 
transcribe. After citing Deuteronomj^ iv. 12 — 
15, Agobard makes this remark on the sacred 
text : — " On which words it is to be observed, 
that if the works of God's hands are not to be 
adored and worshipped, no, not even in honour of 
God himself, much less are the works of men's 
hands to be adored and worshipped, in honor of 
those whom they are said to represent.*" Pro- 

*Bib. Patr. ix. 590. 



INTRODUCTION* 



43 



testants will smile to learn, that against this re- 
mark of Agobard, the popish editors of the pub- 
lication which contains the Treatise, have put 
this admonitory note : — " Caute lege," i. e. Read 
this cautiously. 

I must not dismiss Agobard without relating 
another service which he did to the Christian 
Church universal, against the corruptions and ar- 
rogances of the bishop of Rome. He strongly 
maintained the independence of the Gallic church- 
es, and in two of his works, still extant, he enter- 
ed into an argument to prove, that the councils of 
Gaul had full authority to make canons and reg- 
ulations for the churches of Gaul, and that their 
synods were legitimate, and in possession of ple- 
nary powers, although there were no papal 
legates at the session.* 

In 794, the Gallic bishops at the council of 
Frankfort, and among the rest the bishops of 
Grenoble, Gap, and Embrun, entered their solemn 
protest against that article of the second council 
of Nice, which was meant to make image wor- 
ship the law of the Christian churches, and which 
was sanctioned by all the authority that the popes 
could give it. But the most memorable effort, in 
defence of images, was resisted by an equally 
memorable rejection of them about the year 600. 
Pope Gregory the First signalized his pontificate 
by a correspondence with Serenus, bishop of 
Marseilles, which forms a most curious link in 
the chain of our evidence, as proving, first, that 
the popes had no jurisdiction beyond their own 

* Bib. Patr. ix. 548. Justel. Bib. Can. Juris. Pref. p. 23. 



44 INTRODUCTION. 

Italian see ; secondly, that Rome had not then 
gone all those lengths in the error of image wor- 
ship, to which she has since run ; and thirdly, 
that the superstitions, which were thickening else- 
where, were held in check by the wisdom and 
piety of Christians in this part of the world. 
Serenus had given orders for the destruction of 
some images which had been set up in churches 
of his diocese. This gave offence to his brother 
of the Seven Hills, who addressed a letter to him, 
not of command, but of expostulation, begging 
him to think better of the matter, and not to des- 
troy that which should be preserved for expedien- 
cy sake. " You ought, at the same time," said 
Gregory, " to caution the people against adoring 
the images." Images and pictures then, accord- 
ing to the opinion of papal casuists of that day, 
were to be introduced into churches as memo- 
rials, but not as objects of worship. Very differ- 
ent is the language of the councils of Nice and 
Trent, and therefore not altogether illustrative of 
the unities and unchangeableness of the Romish 
faith. Serenus would not tolerate images even 
in Gregory's sense of their usefulness. He paid 
no attention to the pontiff's admonition, and for 
three years Gregory bore his disrespect in silence. 
He then wrote another epistle to Serenus, still re- 
monstrating only with him, and repeating his 
former advice : " For it is one thing," said the 
holy father, " to adore an image, and another 
thing to learn from it what ought to be adored." 
But Serenus was not to be moved from his right- 
eous purpose : he destroyed all he could find. 



INTRODUCTION, 45 

As the tone of pope Gregory's letter's* to Se- 
renus proves, that Rome exercised no spiritual 
authority over the Gallic provinces in the seventh 
century, so does an epistle of pope Innocent to a 
prelate of the same country, in the year 404, at- 
test, that papal domination was not then establish 
ed in the transalpine provinces.! Innocent, in this 
epistle, appears to be exhorting, advising, and 
persuading his correspondent to adopt the regu- 
lations of the Church of Rome ; a clear proof 
that such regulations had not then been adopted, 
and that the documents of antiquity are against 
the pretensions of Rome to universal obedience, 
and to prescriptive sway from the earliest ages. 

The records of these more remote ages testify 
equally to the existence of pure Christianity, and 
of independent church government, in the moun- 
tain provinces of France. The canons of the 
council of Orange in 529, at which the delegates 
of the churches of Dauphine were present, differ 
very little from the Thirty-nine Articles of the 
Church of England, and are at utter variance 
with those of modern Rome. The council of 
Aries, in 314, which represented all the churches 
of Europe, put forth nothing which a Protestant 
of the present day could not sign ; and the thir- 
teen bishops of Gallia Narbonensis, (the country 
between the Rhone and the Alps,) who held a 
synod, at which Irenaeus, bishop of Lyons, pre- 
sided, towards the end of the second century, 
may fairly be supposed to have subscribed the 



* Sismondi Concilia Gallic, ii. 431. 449. 
t Ibid. i. 30. 



46 INTRODUCTION. 

same opinions with Irenaeus himself. What those 
sentiments were, is collected from his works. It 
is enough for our present purpose to state, that 
those works have rendered it a matter of certain- 
ty, that Irenaeus held it to be a mark of decline 
from the pure Gospel to embrace any doctrines, 
that might want the sanction of Scripture, or to 
maintain that the Scriptures were unintelligible 
without the help of tradition, or to assert that 
Scripture does not form an infallible rule of faith. 
This apostolical father also denounced the use of 
images, as a heathen abomination, rejected the 
invocation of saints, spoke of the profession of 
celibacy as violence done to nature, and lifted up 
his voice against the rash attempt of Victor, 
Bishop of Rome, to dictate to foreign churches 
on the paschal controversy. 

It is most probable that the Alpine churches of 
Dauphine were planted while Irenaeus was bishop 
of Lyons. The vicinity of this mountain region to 
the cities of Lyons and Vienne — the asylum which 
it was likely to offer to the Christian fugitives 
from the banks of the Rhone, during the "^perse- 
cution of Marcus Aurelian : the fact related by Ire- 
naeus himself, that he learned the dialect of the 
country,* to enable him to preach to the natives 
(the language spoken at Lyons and Vienne was 
Latin) : the journey which Irenaeus took to Rome, 
and which must have been undertaken by the 
great military road, which passed through the very 
heart of the territory described in these pages; 
all these concur m persuading us, that the Gospel 

* Neff did the same. 



INTRODUCTION. 47 

was first preached theie towards the end of the 
second century. The evidences, which have been 
here pointed out to notice, are intended to prove, 
that as the Gospel was delivered to the mountain- 
eers of Dauphine by the missionaries of that pe- 
riod, so it has been professed by some of their 
descendants ever since, and that Neff's flock have 
a just claim to the venerable appellation which 
he gave to them, " The remains of the primitive 
Christians of the French Alps." 

In the words of Allix, " May it be of use to 
strengthen the faith of the Protestants, who will 
perceive from thence, that God never left himself 
without witness, as having preserved in the bosom 
of these churches most illustrious professors of the 
Christian religion, w T hich they held in the same 
purity, with which their predecessors had received 
this precious pledge from the hands of apostolical 
men, who at first planted their churches among 
the Alps and Pyrenaean mountains, that they 
might be exposed to the view of four or five king- 
doms all at once." 



MEMOIR OF NEFF, 
Sfc. 



CHAPTER I. 

Neff's Birth and Education — His first Tastes and Occupa- 
tion — His Military Career — Leaves the Army and be- 
comes a Probationer for Holy Orders — Exercises the 
Functions of a Probationer in the Swiss Cantons. 

Felix Neff, the subject of this Memoir, was born 
in the year 1798, and was brought up in a village 
near Geneva, under the care of his widowed 
mother; and he has added one more to the 
number of distinguished men, who have owed 
their first strong impressions to the admirable 
effects produced by maternal vigilance, and to 
lessons taught by female lips. The pure air of 
the delightful region where he spent his boyish 
days, and the long rambles which he was per- 
mitted to take in the midst of splendid mountain 
scenery, not only contributed to form a robust 
constitution, but to inspire a taste for the sublime 
and beautiful, which displayed itself in his charac- 
ter throughout the whole of his very remarkable 
career. Even when he was a child, there was no 
5 



50 BIRTH AND EDUCATION. 

amusement, which the town of Geneva could 
offer, greater than the enjoyment which he de- 
rived from following his own more rational and 
invigorating diversions, by the side of the torrent 
or the lake. When twelve years old he was invi- 
ted by a companion to accompany him to some 
theatrical spectacle, which was in great favour at 
the time, and upon his declining to go, he was 
asked, " Do you think you will not be entertain- 
ed ?" " Perhaps," said he, " I should be too much 
entertained." 

When his mother had laid the first foundation, 
the village pastor gave him instruction in Latin, 
botany, history, and geography. The books 
which were within his reach were probably but 
few, and of these, the works of Plutarch, and 
some of the unobjectionable volumes of J. J. Rous- 
seau, are said to have had a large share of his 
attention : the former delighted him, because they 
made him acquainted with great men, and great 
achievements, and the latter, because they gave 
encouragement to his natural taste for scenery. 
With one of these in his hand, he would scale the 
rock, or climb the mountain, and spend hours in 
imagining the useful actions which he might be 
destined to perform, and the regions which it 
might be his fate to explore. It would seem that 
military exploits and scientific research were the 
vision of his boyhood, and. in the course of this 
narrative, it will be found that those early predilec- 
tions, and the employments of his youth, when 
he was obliged to pursue some occupation for his 
subsistence, proved an eminently beneficial train- 
ing for the more sacred duties to which he af- 



TASTES AND OCCUPATION. 51 

terwards consecrated himself. The same ardent 
spirit, and high courage, the same meditative 
disposition and inquiring genius, the same love 
of mountain life and scenery accompanied him to 
the Alpine wilderness ; and the same burning 
desire to be useful in his generation, found ample 
gratification, when he became the spiritual shep- 
herd of a flock, who had none to guide them be- 
fore he undertook the charge. 

When it was time for Neff to select a profession, 
necessity or choice, or perhaps both combined, 
induced him to engage himself to the proprietor 
of a nursery-ground, or florist gardener, and at 
sixteen he published a little treatise on the culture 
of trees. The accuracy and arrangement of this 
juvenile work, and the proof of deep observation 
which it manifested, were subjects of no small 
praise at the time. But the quiet and humble 
walks of the florist's garden were soon exchanged 
for the bustle of the garrison, and at seventeen 
Felix entered as a private into the military service 
of Geneva, in the memorable year 1815. Two 
years afterwards, he was promoted to the rank of 
serjeant of artillery, and having raised himself to 
notice by his theoretical and practical knowledge 
of mathematics, he continued to make this branch 
of science his study during his continuance in 
the army. 

The wisdom of God, in the choice of his instru- 
ments, was singularly exhibited, when he called 
Neff to be a minister of his word, and sent him to 
preach the Gospel to the rugged and half civilized 
mountaineers of Dauphine. The work of a pastor 
m the Alps, as NerT expressed it, when he came 



52 MILITARY CAREER. 

to have an experience of its duties and its difficul- 
ties, resembles that of a missionary among the 
savages. He had to teach them every thing. He 
had to show them how to build a school room ; 
how to use the line and plummet ; how to form 
levels and inclined planes ; how to irrigate their 
meadows, and to cultivate their barren soil, so as 
to be the most productive. 

A mere scholar from the university, even an 
ardent preacher with the whole scheme of the 
Gospel written in his heart, could not have ac- 
complished what this extraordinar3 r man did, who, 
with his thorough knowledge of the Book of Life, 
possessed also a stock of available information, 
which was brought from the nursery -ground and 
the camp. 

Neff was soon distinguished in the corps to 
which he belonged, not only as an efficient sub- 
officer, but as a devoted soldier of the cross. The 
influence, however, which he hourly obtained 
over his comrades excited a degree of jealousy 
among the superior officers which was far from 
being honourable to them. They wished him out 
of the service ; he was too religious for them, and 
after a few years the serious turn of his mind be- 
came so marked, that he was advised to quit it, 
and to prepare himself for holy orders. 

During the mental struggles and the investi- 
gation of his own motives and spiritual condition, 
which occupied him previously to that important 
step, his frequent prayer for guidance and illu- 
mination was to this effect. " Oh, my God, what- 
ever be thy nature, make me to know thy truth $ 
and deign to manifest thyself in my heart." 



PROBATIONER FOR HOLY ORDERS. 53 

After his supinations were heard, and he was 
fully settled in his resolution to dedicate himself 
to the work of the ministry, he quitted the army, 
and placed himself under pious instruction and 
superintendence, which gave a right direction to 
his studies and reflections. He read the Bible 
with earnest prayers to God, that he might so read 
as to understand the Divine will ; and that he 
might render every passage in Scripture familiar 
to his mind, he made a concordance of his own, 
and filled the margins of several copies of the Old 
and New Testaments with remarks and memo- 
randa. Some of these are still in possession of 
his friends, and are held in most affectionate esti- 
mation, and are consulted as the voice of one 
who, being dead, yet speaketh. 

Those who had opportunities of conversing with 
NefF during this season of solemn preparation, 
relate that his powers of acquirement, and apti- 
tude for abstracted study, were very extraordin- 
ary. The exercise of the memory gave him no 
trouble; he could repeat whole chapters from 
Scripture. His conversation, at the same time, 
was agreeable and easy ; he expresed himself with 
great readiness, force, and accuracy ; but though 
he spoke often, and always correctly and to the 
point, yet it was in short sentences, and in few 
words. 

There is a practice in the Protestant churches 
of Switzerland and France which is extremely 
beneficial to candidates for ordination. The the- 
ological student, after having passed certain ex- 
aminations, is received as a proposant into the 
confidence of some of those who exercise the 
5* 



54 PROBATIONER IN THE SWISS CANTONS. 

pastoral office, and is employed as a lay-helper, 
or catechist in their parishes. This custom is as 
old as the Christian Church, it was the usage of 
the primitive churches, and cannot but be of the 
greatest improvement to the probationer. He is 
acting under the eye of an experienced minister ; 
he has an example and a teacher before him to 
regulate his actions and opinions ; he is trying 
his own strength, and feeling his way, and as- 
suring himself of his preference and fitness for 
the sacred work, before the irrevocable step is ta- 
ken. It is not too late to retire, if he finds him- 
self in any degree unequal to the arduous charge. 

These probationers are not permitted to put 
their hands to the ark, and to perform services 
which are strictly sacerdotal, but they instruct 
the young, and visit the sick, and even preach 
from the pulpit, at the discretion of the pastor, in 
whose parish they are thus making their advance 
towards the ministry.* 

Neff seems to have put on his spiritual armour, 
and to have essayed to go in it, in the year 1819, 
in the neighbourhood of Geneva, and in the two 
following years in the cantons of Neufchatel, 

* " A system of probationary exercise upon a spiritual 
basis, preparatory to ordination, would be a most desirable 
appendage to our own National Establishment. In defect 
of this advantage, an interval more or less protracted, ac- 
cording to circumstauces, and spent in inspection, or ini- 
tiation into the routine of the Christian ministry, under 
the superintendence of a judicious and experienced pas- 
tor, might prove a commencing era of ministerial useful- 
ness. Opportunities would be afforded of learning, which 
is the best preparation for teaching." — Sermon on Tehlo- 
gical Education, By Dr, Adams. 



PROBATIONER IN THE SWISS CANTONS. 55 

Berne, and the Pays de Vaud. It was at a very- 
trying crisis, that he officiated in the character I 
have described, in the latter canton. Lausanne 
and many of the towns and villages of the Pays 
de Vaud, were then divided by religious contro- 
versies, which were carried on with much indis- 
cretion and bitterness on both sides, but NerT 
endeavoured to pursue a course which spoke well 
for his Christian temper and wisdom. "The 
Lord," said he, in one of his letters from Lausan- 
ne, " has opened a wide door for the preaching of 
the Gospel in this canton, which will not soon be 
shut, provided that the preachers conduct them- 
selves with prudence, and are cautious not to agi- 
tate any question, which is of secondary impor- 
tance only, and which, without being directly ne- 
cessary to salvation, may excite suspicion that 
some schism is intended." 



CHAPTER II. 



Neff goes to France to officiate at Grenoble and Mens. — 
His Observations on National Churches. — The Nature 
of his Charge at Mens. — His Laborious Duties. — Re- 
marks on the Effects produced by Sacred Music. — NefPs 
Method with his Catechumens. 

It was in 1821, when Neff was in his twenty-fourth 
year, that he first exchanged his native Switzer- 
land for those wilder scenes in France, where the 
rough places were made smooth, to his fervent 
spirit, by the hope of being of some use to the 
Protestants there, who were very ill provided with 
clergy. He was not yet in orders, but in the 
dearth of regularly appointed ministers, he had 
been invited to the assistance of a pastor of Gre- 
noble, in the same capacity as that which he had 
held in some of the Swiss cantons, and having 
remained at Grenoble about six months, his 
services were requested at Mens, in the depart- 
ment of the Isere, to supply, as far as might be 
done, the place of an absent pastor. Here he 
had many difficulties with which to contend. 
He was a stranger, and an object of suspicion to 
the local authorities. His office and functions 
were but ill defined : the dialect of the country 
people was a patois, of which the French sub- 
plied but very few terms : the tone of his piety 



NEFF AT MENS. 57 

was too high for many of those whom it was his 
duty to instruct, and his sensitive mind was 
severely wounded in the conflict between his high 
sense of duty, and his belief that it might be ex- 
pedient to make some allowances for the weak in 
faith, to give milk to babes, and not to put new 
wine into old bottles, but to relax in his demands 
upon the self denial of those, who were unable to 
give full proof of religious sincerity. "I often 
retire to my chamber," he wrote to one of his 
friends, " ill at rest, and greatly dissatisfied with 
myself. I reproach myself on the one hand for 
having betrayed my sacred trust, and on the other 
hand for being a time-server, and afraid of press- 
ing my opportunities." 

In this letter he complained also of the cold and 
heartless Christianity which prevailed around him, 
in consequence of that rage for controversy, which 
made men think more of other people's spiritual 
condition than their own. One of the pastors, 
under whom he was to act, seldom held any re- 
ligious conversation with his flock, unless it was 
to discuss the points of difference between Prot- 
estants and Roman Catholics. But this person 
soon afterwards began to enter most warmly into 
all NefFs views, subdued by the sincerity and 
earnestness which he could not fail to discern in 
him. 

I shall now begin to draw largely from the 
letters and journals of NefF; and wherever he is 
found to express his sentiments with freedom, the 
language of his own private remarks, and of his 
confidential communications, will be the best illus- 
tration of his character and conduct. The follow- 



58 neff's observations 

ing letter shows, that his sanguine temperament 
and burning zeal were under the constant control 
of prudence and discretion. The letter was writ- 
ten to one of his friends, who had scruples of re- 
maining in communion with the national church 
of Geneva, at a time when many of its clergy had 
avowed Socinian principles, but before it was so 
deeply infected with error as it is at present. 

« Mens, 11 February, 1822, 
" You ask my opinion as to the proposition 
which is made, or about to be made, of admitting 
members into your association without requiring 
them to separate from the national church. You 
ought to know my sentiments on this subject. I 
am not aware of any passage in the Gospel, by 
which a Christian is obliged to recognize, as a 
church, a congregation which has no discipline, 
and which does not even profess the essential doc- 
trines of Christianity ; nor do I mid that there is 
any authority given to exact that all the brethren 
should think alike, and surrender their right of 
private judgment. Consequently, I maintain, that 
the Christian is at liberty to separate, but that he 
is not obliged to do so, so long as the church, to 
which he belongs, does not formally prevent his 
seeking edification wherever he is likely to find 
it, and that she does not openly profess opinions 
;vhich are anti-christian. On this principle, if one 
awakened is anxious to form an union with the 
children of God, but is at the same time desirous 
of continuing his connexion with the national 
church, either because he considers it an useful 
institution, which every body ought to agree in 



ON NATIONAL CHURCHES. 59 

preserving, or because he thinks he should lose 
his influence with certain persons, whose improve- 
ment he is bent on promoting, and who would be 
so shocked at his separation, as to refuse to listen 
to him ; in short, whatever be his reasons, if they 
be conscientious reasons, and founded on his con- 
cern for souls, I do not think he ought to be re- 
jected. I will explain myself more in detail. I 
have said that national churches ought to be re- 
garded as useful institutions 5 in fact, without them, 
how would the knowledge of God and of Jesus 
Christ have been preserved in many places, where 
there have been no true Christians for many ages, 
and where, according to the principle of your 
separatists, there has been no church? What 
would have become of the Protestants of France ? 
What would have become of those many families, 
in different places, who have preserved the Bible, 
and who have had family worship, and who have 
been in the habit of meeting once a week, or not 
so often, to hear the word of God ? To whom 
would the missionaries be able to address them- 
selves, and the evangelical pastors'? What would 
have become of the churches, and of the Sabbath ? 
and where would have been the remembrance of 
the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ? and 
what would have become of the Bible, on the 
knowledge of which all our instructions depend ? 
and what would have become of the elements out 
of which you must now form and restore a spiritual 
and a living church, if the national churches had 
not subsisted for the ordination of ministers, and 
for the ministration of the sacraments? And again, 
if all these churches had not subsisted, what would 



60 NEFP 5 S OBSERVATIONS 

have become of those nominal Christians, whom 
you cannot admit into the churches which are 
really Christian 1 What instiuction would their 
children have received ? what recollection would 
have been preserved of the Gospel % where would 
have been the Bible Society 1 In short, what 
would have become of those elements, which are 
susceptible of life, and which, though too often 
dead, have not ceased to be in the way of learn- 
ing piety, and of being prepared for the reception 
of the true Gospel ? I am now stationed in a 
place, where I have better opportunities than most 
others of forming a judgment upon this subject. 
If then every true Christian in the visible church- 
es had absolutely abandoned them (on your prin- 
ciple,) what would have become of them % Who 
would have been left to contend against unbelief 
in the academies and in the consistories 1 Who 
would have preached the true Gospel in the 
churches, where many go merely in compliance 
with custom, and for nothing else % Would they 
not have fallen back again into paganism, and 
would not every thing that savours of life and truth 
have been totally lost ? It is necessary then, in 
my opinion, at the same time that we recognize 
the right of a christian to separate, (and it is often 
absolutely expedient to do so,) to admit also, that 
there are many strong reasons to induce a great 
number of the children of God to remain in con- 
nexion with the national church, so long as it does 
not compel them to profess or to teach a lie, and 
that it does not reject them from its bosom, because 
they are in union with a more spiritual congrega- 
tion. Such are my opinions, and I should wish 



ON NATIONAL CHURCHES. 61 

that you would communicate them to our little 
flock, with the assurance, that I must always re- 
gard it as the duty of Christians to be in union with 
a true church, that they may live under evangel- 
ical discipline. I think nothing ought to be insis- 
ted upon, as to name or form, but only as to the 
reality ; and I not only believe it to be essential, 
and enjoined by the Lord, but I regard it as an 
invaluable privilege to be in communion with 
such a flock, which alone has the means of ob- 
serving that rigid discipline, in which true sepa- 
ration consists." 

I gather from his journals, that the system which 
Neff pursued at this period of his career, (that is 
to say, before he had consecrated himself to the 
ministry, according to any regular form of ordi- 
nation,) while he had as yet no pastoral charge, 
was to collect as many young people as he could, 
for purposes of religious instruction. These he 
called catechumens. At the date of the above 
mentioned letter, he had as many as eighty cate- 
chumens ; these soon increased to ninety, the 
greatest part of whom spoke only the patois of 
the country, which was a dialect of the old Pro- 
vencal language, and w r hich he himself was obliged 
to learn, before he could make himself well under- 
stood * There is no regular funeral service among 

* He assembled his catechumens four times a week at 
his own lo ding's, the girls twice, and the boys twice. He 
directed them to come prepared with passages by heart, 
out of the New Testament, and after these had been re- 
peated, he expounded them to his young hearers in a 
manner that made a lively impression upon their minds. 
Some were in the habit of attending these catechetical in- 
structions from a distance of more than three miles. 
6 



62 THE CATECHIST- 

the French Protestants. To supply this defect ? 
when there was a death in a family, Neff used to 
go to the house, where the body lay, and deliver 
an exhortation, just before the assembled concourse 
was ready to bear it to the grave. He also visited 
the sick, and whenever it was known that he was 
to be at the bed side of the afflicted, many of the 
neighbours begged to be admitted that they might 
have the benefit of his exhortations. The pulpit 
was open to him very frequently. At one time 
he would preach from a text, at another time he 
would select a chapter, and enlarge upon it in the 
form of a lecture or paraphrase. He found this 
latter mode of instruction to be particularly at- 
tractive and successful. The simple peasants, 
who flocked into Mens from the neighbouring 
villages, were grateful to hear a familiar exposi- 
tion of God's word, and to have an application 
made to their own condition or wants, in lan- 
guage which they had no difficulty in understand- 
ing. 

Our indefatigable catechist did not confine his 
labours to Mens, or to its immediate neighbour- 
hood. Wherever his presence was required, there 
he went, be the distance what it might. At this 
time, and in this department, (that of the Isere,) 
there were about 8000 Protestants, scattered over 
a surface of about eighty miles square, with only 
three regular pastors to ' look after them, one of 
whom was now absent. When his visits were 
paid in one direction, his services were required in 
another, and nothing but a frame of iron could 
have enabled a person of Neff's zeal to encounter 
the toil, which his reputation soon imposed upon 



VIZILLE. 63 

him. One of the districts, which he visited with 
the greatest personal satisfaction to himself, was 
that of Vizille. Its situation, on the banks of the 
Romanche, one of the wildest mountain torrents 
in France, with lofty mountains encircling it on 
all sides, had great attractions for him. The place, 
too, where his little flock was folded, had charms 
of a peculiar nature for his turn of mind. It was 
a large hall in the gothic castle of the family of 
Lesdiguieres. The celebrated constable of France, 
of that name, was the champion of the Huguenot 
cause, in his youth ; but apostatized from it, in 
old age, when ambition and cold worldly calcu- 
lation got the better of the more generous feelings 
of his earlier days. The present possessor of the 
castle, actuated by a better spirit, lent his fine 
baronial hall, as a place of worship, to the Pro- 
testants, and the congregations which gathered 
round Neil were so attentive to his lessons of pie- 
ty, that he always spoke of Vizille as his " dear 
Vizille." But great as was his fatigue, being con- 
stantly on the move from one remote quarter to 
another, it was the sort of life that he preferred 
before any charge, which would have kept him in 
a comparative state of confinement. " A seden- 
tary or a fixed life," said he, " has no pleasures for 
me. I should not like to be constantly labouring 
in one place : I would infinitely rather lead the 
wandering life of a missionary." Thus, among 
the diversities of gifts, and among the differences 
of administration, by which the manifestation of 
the Spirit is granted for men's profit withal, the 
Almighty was pleased to raise up a teacher for the 
natives of the French Alps, whose habits and 



64 VILLAGE EXCURSIONS. 

tastes exactly suited the wants of a people, who 
had not the benefit of a sufficient supply of resi- 
dent pastors. 

The following letters give an interesting de- 
scription of one of his village tours, and of his 
usual employment. 

Mens, April 4, 1822. 
" Yesterday, after the service, I went to Gui- 
chardiere, a hamlet three miles from this place, 
and I returned delighted with my excursion. 
There are already many signs of the seed springing 
up among my catechumens. I was lately accosted 
by several peasant women, one of whom begged 
me to give her a copy of the prayer, which I had 
delivered on the previous Sunday, before my ser- 
mon. I asked her name and residence, and told 
her to come to me on the following Sunday. She 
kept to her appointment, and I then gave her the 
prayer, and with it a little tract containing the par- 
able of the ten virgins. These interviews made me 
desirous of knowing more of her, and I proposed 
to acccompany her some day to her own village. 
Yesterday Elizabeth and I set out together for her 
parents' cottage, and as we walked along, she told 
me that many of the young women of the neigh- 
bourhood met at appointed times to practise psalm- 
singing, and to read the Bible. Upon reaching 
the village where she lived, which is charmingly 
situated in the midst of trees, at the foot of a high 
mountain, and on the edge of a torrent, I was most 
kindly received by her parents. They said they 
could not themselves go to church, but that their 
daughter always repeated to them that which she 



VILLAGE EXCURSIONS. 65 

had heard. The old man recounted a history of 
the persecutions which his own parents and him- 
self had suffered, and he added, £ In those times 
there was more zeal than there is now. My father 
and mother used to cross mountains and forests by 
night, in the worst weather, and at the risk of their 
lives, to be present at Divine service performed in 
secret, but now we are grown lazy. Religious 
freedom is the death blow to piety.' He after- 
wards talked tp me of his unhappiness in having 
only one son left, a young man of eighteen, who 
was clever, and blessed with a good memory, and 
had read the Bible, and all the pious books in the 
house, but who did not believe in the word of God. 
I read some verses of the fifteenth of St. John, 
and explained them. These good people pressed 
me to stay with them, but I had an engagement 
to be present at a meeting at Mens, where my 
young people were to practise psalm-singing, and 
could only thank them for their kindness.' 5 

In another place, Neff has given this beautiful 
description of two villages, where he had the satis- 
faction of seeing much fruit come to perfection. 
" These two lovely villages, which are at the foot of 
Mont Chalet, in a little dell watered by a charming 
stream, tapestried with rich verdure, and shaded 
by a grove of beach trees, had often tempted me 
to extend my walks from Mens in 1822. They 
seemed to be the peaceful retreat of true piety, and 
their humble, moss-clad cottages, appeared to offer 
a natural tabernacle for the good shepherd, Jesus 
Christ." 

6* 



66 



THE CATECHUMENS. 



Mens, May 15, 1822. 
" Far from having time to write letters, I some- 
times can scarcely find time to take my meals. 
May I say with our Lord, ' My meat is to do the 
will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.' 
From before Easter I have been visiting all the 
hamlets and villages of the parish. I have held 
meetings nearly in every one, at which there was 
a good attendance after the labours of the day. 
When I am in Mens, of an evening I always give 
a catechetical lecture, or an exposition. Besides 
this, I have called on all my catechumens in their 
own communes. The sermons of an evening, and 
particularly the paraphrastic explanations, are con- 
stantly v/ell attended. Out of seventy- seven cat- 
echumens whom I have at present, more than thir- 
ty are seriously inclined. Fifteen of those seem 
to be more or less aware of their true condition, 
and four or five have found peace in Jesus Christ. 
Since I have been here, and especially of late, God 
has given me a facility of expressing myself, an 
energy, and a degree of boldness, at which lam 
myself astonished, and which they certainly would 
not endure in Switzerland. With respect to my 
health, it is much stronger since I have been con- 
stantly on the move and making long excursions, 
although many of these are very fatiguing, for it 
often happens that I go several leagues, and per- 
form as many as four or fi\e services in one day, 
especially on Sundays. I have not unfrequently 
been thus engaged, instructing or conversing, from 
fi\e o'clock in the morning, till eleven at night, 
and all this without any cough or ailment of the 
stomach : I have recovered my appetite, and can 



SACRED MUSIC. 67 

drink wine at my meals without any inconve- 
nience." 

Neff's journals contain frequent mention of even- 
ing hours spent in the exercise of sacred music 
with his catechumens, and other young persons 
whom he could persuade to attend his instruction 
in this branch of knowledge. It will appear ex- 
traordinary to those who have been accustomed to 
think of France as the land of the dance and song, 
and whose ideas of mountain amusements have 
been formed by hearing airs which go under the 
name of Savoyard and Provencal, to find our 
catechist complaining, that the common people of 
Mens, and the mountaineers of the neighbourhood 
had not the least notion of music. " They do not 
sing at all, neither well, nor ill, no not even songs," 
This was his remark in one of his letters, and with 
that intuitive knowledge of human nature, and of 
the chords by which it is moved, which so emi- 
nently distinguished him, he soon emploj^ed him- 
self in giving lessons in psalmody, which added 
very substantially both to his own influence, and 
to the numbers of those, who expressed a desire 
to enrol themselves in this little company of hear- 
ers and learners. I annex his own description of 
the successful effects of this device, to combine 
innocent and rational entertainment with his more 
grave instructions, and of the manner in which 
the time thus spent was made to pass agreeably, 
by diversifying the employment, and alternating 
the singing lesson, and the scriptural lesson. 

" Our sacred music meetings, both on Sundays, 

and on other evenings, are always numerously at- 

ifeiaded ; sometimes we count above a hundred, 



88 PSALMODY. 

and there would be more if we had room for 
them. On these occasions we have a great deal 
of singing, both to practise them in the psalm and 
hymn tunes, and to preserve the inviting name of 
sacred music meeting. We do it also to prolong 
the assembly till a late hour in the evening, so 
they may not be able to go to the dances*. The 
singing is frequently interrupted either by Mr. 
Blanc (one of the pastors of Mens,) or myself. Mr. 
Blanc explains some verses of the Bible, which 
bear upon the verses of the hymn, or enlarges up- 
on any subject which he thinks applicable. There 
is a simplicity in his addresses, and often a cast 
of humour, which is extremely engaging. Last 
Sunday evening, perceiving some symptonsof inat- 
tention and drowsiness in the party, while he was 
expounding very seriously, he suddenly exclaimed, 
£ I see you are tired of this, but before we con- 
clude, I Will teach you something new.' Every 
body was immediately all attention. c I will re- 
late a fable to you, 5 he continued, ' a fable of La 
Fontaine. There were an ant and a grasshopper 
living near each other. The ant worked hard all 
the summer to provide against the wants of the 
winter ; but the grasshopper did nothing but en- 
joy herself during the whole of the fine weather. 
When winter came the idler found herself in very 
great distress, and applied to her neighbour, the 
ant, for some food. : — What were you doing all 

* One of Neff's most anxious objects was to put an end 
to the Sunday games and dancer which then prevailed, 
even among the Protestants, in "all parts of France, and he 
happily succeeded in opening the eyes of many of his 
young catechumens to the profaneness of the practice. 



PSALMODY. 69 

the summer? asked the ant. — I sung and danced, 
answered the grasshopper. — Well then, sing and 
dance now, said the ant. 5 When they heard this, 
a smile ran througk the room. £ Yes, J said Mr. 
Blanc, you may laugh now, but this fable is like 
the parable of the ten virgins : and since the 
parables of Christ send you to sleep, I thought it 
necessary to disguise them under a more attract- 
ive form. The ant represents the wise virgins, 
and the grasshopper represents the foolish virgins. 
Like the grasshopper, the foolish virgins beg oil 
of the wise virgins, but they refuse to give it for 
fear of wanting it themselves. Then comes the 
bridegroom and shuts the door, and when the 
foolish virgins wish to enter, he says unto them, 
1 verily I say unto you, I know you not. Watch, 
therefore, for ye know neither the day, nor the 
hour, w r hen the Son of man cometh. 5 The tone, 
with which Mr. Blanc delivered this, produced 
an irresistible effect." 

In remarking upon Neff's anxiety to promote 
psalmod} 7- , I would observe, that the effect pro- 
duced by the words, or by the music, or by the 
combination of the two, is such, that the cultiva- 
tion of psalmody has ever been earnestly recom- 
mended by those who are anxious to excite true 
piety. Tradition, history, revelation, and experi- 
ence, bear witness to the truth, that there is noth- 
ing to which the natural feelings of a man respond 
more readily. Every nation, whose literary re- 
mains have come down to us, appears to have 
consecrated the first efforts of its muse to relig- 
ion, or rather all the first compositions in verse 
seem to have grown out of devotional effusions. 



70 PSALMODY. 

We know that the book of Job, and others, the 
most ancient of the Old Testament, contain ryth- 
mical addresses to the Supreme Being. Many of 
the Psalms were composed centuries before the 
time of king David, and it is not extravagant to 
imagine, that some of them may have been sung 
even to JubaPs lyre, and were handed down from 
patriarch to patriarch by oral tradition. Nor did 
the fancy of Milton take too bold a flight, when 
it pleased itself with the idea that our first parents, 
taught by the carols of the birds in the garden of 
Eden, raised their voices in tuneful notes of praise 
to the Creator of all, when they walked forth in 
the cool of the day to meet their God before the 
fall. But this is certain, that one of our Lord's 
last acts of social worship on earth was to sing a 
hymn with his disciples. Few, therefore, can be 
slow to understand, that if Christ and his disci- 
ples broke forth in holy song, immediately after 
the solemnities of the Last Supper, and just be- 
fore the Shepherd was smitten, and the sheep 
were scattered ; and if Paul and Silas sung prais- 
es unto God in their prison-house, congregational 
worship may always be the better for such helps. 
Add to these examples, the apostolical exhorta- 
tion to the merry hearted to sing psalms, and the 
apostolical descriptions of the choral strains which 
resound in the courts of heaven, and we cannot 
but feel certain, that the services of the Christian 
church were cheered from the earliest times by 
hymns and Psalms. "Those Nazarenes sing 
hymns to Christ," said Pliny, in contempt. We 
thank him for recording the fact. The words of 
Te Deum were composed by a native of Gaul, 



P3ALM0DY. 71 

(for the use probably of one of the churches on 
the Rhone, or of the Alps) about the third centu- 
ry ; and at the same period, men, women, youths 
of both sexes, and even children joined in the 
psalmody of the sanctuaries, in such cordial and 
harmonious unison, that a father of the church 
has well compared the sound to the loud, but not 
discordant, noise of many waves beating against 
the sea shore. 

At the time of the reformation, sacred music, 
which had begun to run wild, was brought back 
to its first principles. The melodies of religious 
worship were rendered more heart-touching, by 
being set to words in the vernacular tongues, 
which every body could understand. Luther's 
hymn, " Great God, what do I hear and see,'; led 
the way. Henry VIII. hated the German reform- 
er, and all that he did, but he burned to rival him 
in every thing, and he gave a stimulus to the 
public taste, by composing words and music for 
the service of the English church. In France, 
soon after the middle of the sixteenth century, 
when it was doubtful whether the nation would 
become Protestant or remain Roman Catholic, the 
pathetic tunes and devotional stanzas of the re- 
formers obtained so great an influence over the 
minds of men, that the music of the temples, as 
the Protestant sanctuaries were called, to distin- 
guish them from the Roman Catholic churches, 
became the fashionable melodies of the day. This 
taste found its way even to the court, and to the 
great alarm of the Romish party, some of the 
.sweetest and most stirring of the psalms, which 
had been translated into French metre by Cle- 



72 PSALMODY. 

ment Marot, were set to music by Lewis Guadi- 
mel, and were constantly in the mouths not only 
of the Protestant families of the provinces, but of 
the ornaments of the saloons of Paris, and of the 
palace of the Louvre. It is said to have been 
quite astonishing how much this pious and sim- 
ple device found favour for the Protestant cause, 
and induced people, who had never read Scrip- 
ture before, to search the holy volume out of 
which those treasures were drawn, which so 
charmed their ears and their imagination. It is 
still the practice in most of the mountain church- 
es, to make sacred music a part of family devo- 
tion, and many of the tunes which Guadimel com- 
posed with such success are still sung to the 
praise of God. I can bear witness to the forcible 
manner in which these strains, rising to heaven 
from the lips of parents, children and domestics, 
quicken piety, and stir up the best affections of 
the heart towards God and man. I have seen 
and felt the effect produced by them in the hum- 
ble dwelling of the village pastor, where none but 
human voices swelled the notes ; and in the chat- 
eau, where the harp and the organ have mingled 
their fine sounds with the well modulated tones 
of an accomplished family of sons and daughters. 
My thoughts, at the moment I am writing this, are 
at Chateau Blonay, but most of the voices, which 
I heard there, are now silent in death ! I am 
thoroughly convinced that family worship and 
congregational worship lose a great auxiliary to 
piety, when there is not the power or the inclina- 
tion to join in psalmody. 

Neff knew the human heart, when he determin- 



NEFF MISREPRESENTED. 73 

ed to cultivate a taste for sacred music among his 
flock; he felt assured, both from experience and 
observation, that when impressive words are set 
to expressive music, the effect produced cannot 
but be both delightful and beneficial to those who 
take part in them. 

The return of the pastor to Mens, whose place 
Neff was appointed to supply in part, was not fa- 
vourable to the progress of improvement in that 
neighbourhood. Having absented himself for a 
longer period than the circumstances of his case 
could justify, a question arose as to his reinstate- 
ment. This produced some party feeling, and 
the clergyman himself, jealous of NefPs influence, 
and angry with the consistory for not permitting 
him to resume his functions at once, raised a cabal 
against the man, whose anxious object had been 
to feed and to watch the flock during the shep- 
herd's absence. The effect of his ungenerous 
misrepresentations, and of the levity with which 
he spoke of the catechist's rigid sentiments, was 
more visible in the town of Mens than in the 
neighbouring villages, and it wrung from Neff's 
wounded spirit an expression of regret at the 
falling off of many, of whom he had had better 
hopes. 

But it is gratifying to be able to report of the 
people generally, to whose instruction Neff devo- 
ted so much of his time and anxiety, that they 
were not insensible of his merits. The day of 
his departure was a day of mourning to them, 
and the testimony which M. Blanc, the other pas- 
tor of Mens, bore to his character after his death 3 
7 



74 NEFP VINDICATED. 

and to the succes of his labours is highly hon- 
ourable to all parties. 

Extract of a Letter from M. Blanc, pastor of 
Mens, dated 1st Dec 1829. 
"About five months after the arrival of M- 
Neff at Mens, more than a hundred persons, 
principally the heads of families, lamenting that 
lie was not appointed to the station of asssistant 
pastor, petitioned the consistory to retain him 
under the designation of pastor-catechist, and 
offeied to provide a stipend for him, as long as 
they should have a farthing left. The consistory 
nominated M. Felix Neff pastor-catechist on the 
1st of June 1822. Every where, in Mens and its 
environs, the name of our friend was never pro- 
nounced but with respect ; and there were few who 
did not regard him as a saint, almost exempt from 
sin. This was a subject of deep affliction to him, 
because he saw that they attached themselves too 
much to him personally, and too little to the Sav- 
iour whose servant he was. He said to me one 
day with deep feeling, c They love me too much ; 
they receive me with too much pleasure ; they 
eulogise me too much ; indeed they do not know 
me.' During the space of nearly two years, 
which he spent among us, he did a prodigious 
quantity of good. Zeal for religion revived ; a 
great number of persons began to think seriously 
of the condition of their souls. The Word of 
God was more sought after, and more carefully 
read, the catechumens were better instructed in 
their Christian duties, and gave proofs of it in 
their conduct, family worship was established in 



IMPROVEMENT AT MENS. 75 

many houses ; the love of luxury, and personal 
vanity decreased ; almsgiving was more general- 
ly practised, and the poor were not so numerous. 
Schools were opened in different places and 
both in Mens, and in our neighbouring villages, 
every body remarks a sensible improvement in 
the manners and industrious habits of the Prot- 
estants. In short the numberless labours of 
Neff, his indefatigable activity, and his instruc- 
tions, will long be remembered at Mens, and his 
sojournment among us will be recorded as a signal 
blessing." 

Amiable and Christian-minded must be the 
man, who thus bears witness to the labours of his 
humble brother. Without any unworthy dero- 
gation, without the least shadow of envy, the 
pastor of Mens, attributes all the improvement 
produced in his flock to the labours of a stranger ; 
of a coadjutor, whose office was nothing more than 
that of a catechist ! Great reason had NefT in his 
Journals to speak of the singleness of heart, of the 
pure religious motives which actuated M. Blanc. 
But before we dismiss this part of NefPs history, 
when he was acquitting himself so well as a pro- 
posant, or probationer, in the ample field to which 
he returned after a short absence, in the charac- 
ter of a regular pastor, it will more fully illustrate 
the resources of his mind, and explain the mode of 
treatment which he adopted with his catechu- 
mens, if I select one of the many sketches which 
his Journal contains. 

" You will perhaps remember,'', said he, in a 
letter to one of his friends, ".that in the notice of 
my first lecture at Mens, I spoke of a daughter of 



?6 SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 

my host 3 named Emily, one of my catechumens, 
as being very intelligent, but at the same time ex- 
tremely devoted to the pleasures of the world. 
She used to be at every frivilous amusement. 
Upon one occasion, having understood that she 
meant to perform a part in a comedy, I signified 
my displeasuie so plainly, that she gave up her 
design ; but I perceived that it was sorely against 
her real inclination. While she regularly attended 
all our private and publick services,and particularly 
our evening meetings, her whole heart was with 
the world. Her lips only gave confession of the 
truth. Things were in this state with her when 
she heard my sermon on Good Friday. She was 
struck by these words, which I repeated more than 
once : ' Go to Golgotha, and there you will see 
how odious sin is to God V For the first time 
she understood, in the sufferings of our Lord, the 
terrible demands of the holy law of God. In the 
bitterness and anguish of her soul, she shed many 
tears during the service, and her heart was on fire 
when she left the church. During the whole of 
the day her uneasiness increased, though she did 
all she could to give another turn to her thoughts. 
She cursed the hour when she had asked God to 
give her a knowledge of her heart. She continued 
in this state without disclosing her feelings to any 
body till the Tuesday morning afterwards. It was 
in vain that I endeavoured to find and opportuni- 
ty of speaking to her. She avoided me. Her pa- 
rents and friends tortured themselves to divine the 
cause of her disquietude. At last, on the Tuesday 
morning, I made her search for some passages in 
my Testament, and in turning over the leaves she 



SPIRITUAL CONFLICT, 77 

found the Text on which I had preached, Mat. v, 
20. £ It is too true,' said she, ' that our righteous- 
ness does not surpass that of the Scribes and Phar- 
isees : it is even less than theirs.' 

u ' And St. Paul says,' I rejoined, c that no flesh 
shall be justified by the works of the law.' 

" 'Upon this she made many objections to the 
doctrine, not being able to understand how we are 
excited to good works by it. 

" I then read to her the passage in St. Paul's 
Epistle to Titus, and I reminded her of the exam- 
ple of true Christians who are rich in good works 
although they do not attribute any merit to them. 
I explained to her the motives of love and grati- 
tude, which incline them to obedience, and to a 
renouncement of the world. 

" ' Do you think,' added I, ' that they who have 
such sentiments as these, can find any pleasure in 
the things of the world V 

" ' No,' said she, ' but I do.' 

" I then endeavoured to make her perceive how 
the consideration of the truths of the Gospel ought 
to make us serious. 

" c It does not make me serious !' she exclaimed, 
bursting into tears. 

" ' I return thanks to God for the disposition in 
which I now find you, for those who weep shall 
be comforted. Be of good cheer, there is a com- 
forter. He whom Jesus Christ promised to his 
disciples, will be sent to you also.' 

" ' His disciples did his will, but as for me, I do 
it not, and I have never done it.' 

" £ His disciples did not only do his will, they 
believed.' 



78 SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 

" c Yes, and I do not believe. 5 

" ' They did not believe as much as they ought, 
for Jesus reproached them with not having faith 
as big as a grain of mustard seed. But they did 
as you ought to do : they asked the Lord to in- 
crease their faith.' 

" ' But they, at that time, had a little, and I have 
none at all.' 

" Here her tears burst forth again, and all that 
I said appeared to have no effect upon her. She 
continued all day in such a melancholy mood as 
to alarm her parents. She could scarcely utter 
a word : she avoided company, and ate scarcely 
any thing. 

" The next morning she told me that she was 
in the same frame of mind, and when I urged her 
to tell me what it was which so afflicted her she 
exclaimed, sobbing, ' I am too proud I never can 
be saved.' I assured her that I was rejoiced to 
find that she had attained this knowledge of her 
own heart, and then I opened before her all the 
treasures of the mercy of God in Jesus Christ. 
But she persevered in objecting the excess of her 
pride and vanity. She could not believe in the 
glad tidings, she could not believe that her pray- 
ers would be heard. 

" c Poor Emily, you are very unhappy at pres- 
ent, but your sadness shall be turned into joy. 
The Lord will comfort you.' 

" 'But if I should die in this condition V 

" ' Be not afraid ; I am as sure as I am of my 
own existence, that God does not light the candle 
and take the broom, to leave the piece of silver in 
the dust. He will finish the work which he has 



SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 79 

begun in you. He will call you to himself, after 
he has purified you. 5 

" ' It was in vain that I endeavoured to console 
her by such discourse as this: I could not succeed, 
and I left her with these words. ' My dear Emily, 
I am very sorry to have to quit you at this moment 
but I leave you in the hands of the Lord, who 
will comfort you better than I can. Go to him 
with perfect confidence. I recommend you to ac- 
quaint your mother with the cause of your distress, 
in order to remove any unpleasant suspicion. 5 I 
then parted with her, and went to La Mure, where 
I preached at one o'clock, and in the evening I 
slept at La Baume, near the Drac, where I held a 
numerous meeting in the house of the mayor of 
the commune. All the inhabitants of this little 
village are Protestants ; and not one of them staid 
at home, even mothers attended with children at 
the breast, for in the memory of man, there had 
never been any preaching performed in this place, 
which is very remote from any road, and has no 
church near it. The next morning I set out at a 
very early hour, the mayor accompanied me as far 
as the Drac, and I ascended the mountain towards 
St. Jean d 5 Heran, to visit a sick person. He was 
a wicked old man, who had all his life boasted of 
his irreligion, but the fear of death had softened 
him. I found him in full possession of his intel- 
lect, although he was very near his end. I read 
to him, and I explained to him the parable of the 
labourers in the vineyard, and dwelt upon those 
who were hired at the eleventh hour. He listened, 
and then made some objections. He did not ap- 
pear to be persuaded, f prayed with him, and 



80 SPIRITUAL CONFLICT. 

then took my leave, after having addressed him 
with great earnestness, and I hope with affection. 
I do not know, whether the Lord, who came five 
or six hours afterwards, found him clothed with the 
white garment or naked. I also visited another 
sick person, whom I found much better disposed, 
and then returned to Mens, to receive my cate- 
chumens. In the course of my excursion I did 
not forget Emily. At one time I felt rejoiced, and 
blessed God for the dispensation of mercy to her. 
At another time I was afraid lest this sudden awa- 
kening should produce bad effects, especially if her 
anguish of mind should continue, and effect her 
health, which is but feeble even now. 

" In the midst of these reflections I arrived at 
home, fearing to find Emily in her bed, and her 
parents miserable, but I found her full of joy. 
c Oh how happy I am, 5 she exclaimed the moment- 
she saw me. c You have not left me in the handt ; 
of a severe judge. How gracious the Lord has 
been! Oh! he is rightly called the Saviour : — 
but what agony ! what sufferings ! Oh! what he 
must have suffered ! He who drank the cup of 
bitterness even to the dregs. Now I understand 
what he meant to say, when he exclaimed, ' My 
soul is full of heaviness, even unto death. 5 I should 
never have done, if I were to endeavour to tran- 
scribe all the expressions of gratitude,and admira- 
tion,which poured from her mouth, from that mouth 
which heretefore had been full of the attractions of 
the world. Not only was her language new, but 
her air and aspect were changed. The vain anc* 
self important deportment had now given way to 
modesty and sweetness. It was no longer the 



THE PENITENT. 81 

same Emily. My first movement was naturally 
to bless the Father of Mercies and the Saviour of 
Sinners." 

The reader will be glad to know that the im- 
provement, which had now been going on for a 
week, and which had been assisted so judiciously 
and with so much tenderness and supplication by 
her pious instructor, continued till she began to 
bring forth the fruits of a holy life, and that she 
remained a faithful servant of her God and Re- 
deemer. 

As an accompaniment to the method used by 
Neff of gently leading on those, who were slow to 
approach the Lord, I subjoin his account of the 
language he was wont to hold with those, who 
appeared to be declining from their devout resolu- 
tions. "After having been awakened, D— — 
seemed to be on the point of relapsing into her 
former state. I asked her, what will become of 
the soul which neglects the means of grace, after 
having received them. l It will fall into condem- 
nation, 5 said she, in a faint voice. ' Yon ought,' 
said I to her, c to know something of this by expe- 
rience ;' and then I spoke to her of her defection, 
and of the fate which awaits the branch which 
does not abide in the vine. Yesterday, at the 
evening catechising, I pursued a similar course 
with L r-. She had repeated the verse contain- 
ing those words of Jesus, — ' Even the Spirit of 
Truth, which the wor]d cannot receive, because it 
seeth him not, neither knoweth him, for he dwell- 
1 eth with you, and shall be with you, 5 * After she 

♦Johnxiv. 17. 



82 THE RELAPSED. 

had explained what is meant by the habitation of 
the Spirit, I asked her if that Spirit was given for 
a time only 1 

" ' No,' said she, ' He is to abide with us for 

ever.'t 

" ' But if this Spirit will not depart of himself, 
may we not lose him V 

" She had great difficulty in making any reply, 
At length she answered in a low voice, and with 
tears in her eyes, c Yes.' 

" £ Yes,' replied I calmly, but with considerable 
emphasis, c and you are a proof of it. The Lord 
has enlightened you with his Spirit. You have 
been made sensible of the weight of your sins $ 
and the time was, when you found rest at the feet 
of the Redeemer. You have known him. You 
had his seal set upon you, and now you have 
fallen back again into a state of spiritual death. 
You have only preserved the form of Christianity, 
by which you may more easily deceive the chil- 
dren of God ! But beware ! Woe unto him by 
whom the Son of man is betrayed !' — This apos- 
trophe had a striking effect upon L~ , and all 

who listened to it." 

One of Neff's Journal contains these interest- 
ing remarks upon the village of La Baume. 
" For nine months I have made frequent visits to 
this place, but I have been heard without oppo- 
sition, and without producing any positive good. 
The mayor has received me with perfect frank- 
ness, and the whole population have listened to 
me attentively. Lately, however, I have perceived 

*Ver. 16. 






LA BAUME. 83 

something like signs of life in three or four young 
persons. At my last visit, when I had finished 
my exposition and my prayer, instead of going 
away, as they had hitherto done, at the termina- 
tion of the service, all the people kept their seats, 
and remained silent. Full of real concern for 
these poor creatures, I rested my head upon my 
hands, and offered up a secret prayer to God in 
their behalf. They thought I was taken ill, and 
many anxious inquiries were put to me. I lifted 
up my head, and said, ' I am not ill, my friends, 
but I am distressed on your account. I am 
thinking that most of you have already forgotten 
that which you have just heard, and it is this 
which grieves me.' " 



CHAPTER III. 



Neff } s difficulties as to ordination — His reasons for not be- 
ing* ordained by the Genevan Clergy — Goes to England 
for his diploma — His return to France and reception at 
Mens — His nomination as Pastor of the High Alps — 
His first visit to the mountain hamlets of his parish. 

Neff had now made sufficient proof of his incli- 
nation and powers. He had discharged the duties 
of a probationer and catechist for more than four 
years, and in the course of his ministry, first in 
his native country, and next in one of the pro- 
vinces of France, he found, by happy experience, 
that God had given him both strength and will- 
ingness to do his work. He, therefore, took his 
departure from Mens, in April 1823, with the 
intention of seeking for the imposition of hands, 
and of devoting himself to the service of the 
church by a solemn act of consecration. He 
believed himself to be called, and tried, and he 
humbly hoped, that he possessed such qualities as 
were requisite for the responsible station, which 
he was desirous to fill. 

The great difficulty, however, was this. By 
whom should he be ordained ? By the authorities 
of the National Church of Geneva, the land of 
his birth ? But these had avowed principles from 
which his soul shrunk : and he felt a strong re- 






THE CHURCH OF GENEVA. 



85 



luctanee to derive authority to preach the Gospel 
from those who, in his opinion, had betrayed the 
Gospel, by ceasing to uphold the divinity of Jesus 
Christ, and the essential doctrines of the Book of 
Life. Should he present himse]f before those 
seceding pastors of Geneva, who had separated 
from the national church, and who declared them- 
selves the members of a new church % A refer- 
ence to Neff's letter, on the subject of national 
establishments, will show that he was likely to 
have scruples here, and that he was unwilling to 
take any step, which could be regarded as incon- 
sistent with his declared opinions on the subject 
of disorganization. He could not wish, by any 
act of his, to be impairing the maintenance of 
the church in which he himself had been baptiz- 
ed, which had once been the instrument of much 
good, and might again, by a reformation within 
itself, become as illustrious for its orthodoxy, as 
it then was for its learning. 

For further explanation of Neff's unwillingness 
to be ordained by the hands of ministers of the 
established church of his native country, I must 
here offer a few statements, touching the departure 
of that church from its ancient principles. For 
several years past, a spirit, hostile to the funda- 
mental doctrines settled at the period of the Re- 
formation, and sanctioned by the subscription of 
names illustrious in the ecclesiastical history of 
Geneva, such as Farel, Calvin, Viret, and Beza, 
has been openly avowed by many of the national 
pastors. Even the cardinal articles of the Chris- 
tian creed, the divinity of Jesus Christ, which the 
most distinguished confessors of every branch of 
8 



SO THE CHDRCH OF GENEVA. 

the universal Church have agreed in receiving, 
from the apostolic times to our own, has been 
disputed, and the belief of Wicliff, Huss, Luther, 
and Fenelon, has been publicly controverted from 
the theological chair of the academy of Geneva. 
In 1817, the venerable company of pastors took 
upon themselves to declare, that the following 
subjects were not to be discussed in the pulpits, 
viz. 

" The Divinity of Jesus Christ." 

" Original Sin." 

" The Operation of Grace." 

" Predestination." 
From this period the departure from apostolical 
Christianity has been so undisguised, that out of 
twenty-two recent elections to pastoral charges, 
there has been but one minister elected, who has 
ventured to preach the divinity of Christ. Under 
such circumstances, it is not to be wondered that 
NefF felt scruples of conscience, and could not con- 
sent to receive ordination in a church, in which it 
was prohibited to enlarge upon the great mystery 
of godliness, God manifest in the flesh. Within 
a few months, some of the brightest ornaments 
of the establishment, who have all along refused 
to be silent upon the prohibited topics, have been 
deprived of their functions, because they formed 
the committee of an association, which determin- 
ed at last to take measures for the revival of the 
ancient principles of their church, and to institute 
a school of theology, in which those principles 
shall be taught. The association has declared its 
strict adherence to the doctrines, which the Pro- 
testant churches of Holland, England, Scotland, 



THE CHURCH OF GENEVA. 87 

France, Germany, and Italy, profess with one 
accord, in their respective articles of faith. 

I subjoin the contents of a paper lately circulated 
by the Rev. Richard Burgess, the English chap- 
lain at Geneva, in which the lamentable falling 
off of the Geneva church and academy, and the 
views of the association are ably stated. 

"The decline of the orthodox faith in the 
c national church' of Geneva, and the consequent 
deterioration in the religious instruction of youth, 
have, for several years, been subjects of painful 
interest to the friends of the Protestant cause in 
Europe. Hitheito, however, they have remained 
almost passive spectators of the conflict which has 
been carried on between the Unitarian principles of 
the great body of the clergy and a few individuals 
among them, who ' have earnestly contended for 
the faith once delivered to the saints :' for the 
principles of the 'national church, 5 although evi- 
dently to be traced in every act of its constituent 
body, were not openly avowed, and the formal 
abolition of all creeds kept many persons in doubt 
as to the real doctrines of the majority of the clergy. 
At length, a series of publications, emanating from 
the professor of divinity and other influential 
members of the ecclesiastical body, have placed 
the doctrines of that majority in a graduated scale 
of heterodoxy between Arianism and Socinianism. 
It then became imperative for such of the clerical 
and lay members of the £ national church' as re- 
tained and cherished the true doctrines, and who 
conscientiously felt that to be silent any longer 
were to betray the sacred cause of the Gospel, to 
form a religious union for their edification, whilst 



THE " SOCIETE EVANG£LiaUE" OF GENEVA. 

they might maintain their principles and dissemi- 
nate them amongst their fellow-citizens. A socie- 
ty, called the Societe Evangelique, was according- 
ly formed, and in a very short time received an ac- 
cession of more than two hundred members. The 
committee of the society is composed of three 
ministers of distinguished zeal and piety, and 
several laymen of rank and consideration as citi- 
zens and as Christians, ' strong in the grace that 
is in Christ Jesus. 5 The great object of the Societe 
Evangelique is to restore the true and orthodox 
doctrines of the Gospel (which, through a vain 
philosophy, have been so long lost) to the Genevan 
church, and one of the most effectual means for 
accomplishing this end is the establishment of a 
theological academy, to train up young men for 
the ministry in sound and orthodox principles. 
This institution has already been set on foot ; the 
professors engaged are men of distinguished tal- 
ent, expressing their firm adherence to the doc- 
trines contained in the articles of the church of 
England and the Helvetic confession of faith." 

The three members, to whom Mr. Burgess 
alludes, Messrs. Gaussen, Merle d'Aubigny, and 
Galland, were ejected from the church of Geneva, 
by an act of consistory, dated 11th October, 1831, 
and confirmed by the council of state. The al- 
ledged offence was the following passage in their 
circular. 

" We have said that this school was indispen- 
sable ; and it is but too easy to prove the fact. 
If the youths who go to the academies of France 
and Geneva to qualify themselves for the ministry 
of the Word of Life, are there taught the Unitarian 






NEW THEOLOGICAL ACADEMY OF GENEVA. 89 

doctrines : — if the very truths, for the sake of 
which our professorships were founded,our schools 
opened, aud our institutions formed, are there 
condemned : — if the studies in those schools are 
not free, that is to say, if the pupils attached to 
the faith of the apostles and reformers are not at 
liberty to follow the instructions which correspond 
with their faith and satisfy their consciences : — 
if pious parents, desirous of devoting their sons to 
the ministry of the Gospel, are compelled to con- 
demn them to consume the four best years of their 
youth in studies which subvert the foundations of 
our faith : — in a word, if it be true that Arianism 
saps the very foundations of the Gospel, — then 
assuredly the establishment of a new school of 
theology was indispensable. 

"In thus saying, we are but stating a fact well 
known to the Church of Christ. Indeed, those 
who teach the new doctrines in the theological 
chairs, have themselves proclaimed it in recent 
publications ; and, while we appreciate the can- 
dour which has at length brought to light such 
an evil, we consider it to be obligator) 7 on all 
Christians, not only to desire, but to labour assid- 
uously to provide a remedy. 

" If, then, we have presumed to propose a rem- 
edy, it is because it behoved some one to offer it : 
and if we entertain the persuasion that God will 
take this work into his all-powerful hands, it is 
because it is his own cause, and not ours." 

Neff's eyes, in his reluctance to be ordained by 

clergy holding doubtful opinions, would next be 

turned to the Protestant Church of France, and 

as he had been a humble Levite in her temples, 

8* 



90 NEFF IN LONDON. 

and hoped yet to serve before her altars, it must 
have been his devout wish, to receive orders under 
her sanction. But he was a foreigner, and with- 
out the process of naturalization, it was not then 
easy, perhaps not practicable, to be admitted into 
her bosom. 

One door only seemed to be opened to him. 
To go to England, where his name and merits 
had been made known through the means, orig- 
inally, of the Continental Society I believe, and 
of Mr. Cook, and Mr. Wilks, two eminent dis- 
senting ministers ; and to ask for a public recog- 
nition as a devoted servant of God, in one of 
those independent congregatious, whose minis- 
ters are received in the Protestant churches of 
France, as duly authorized to preach the word of 
God, and to fulfil all the duties of the pastoral 
office. 

NefT had no other mode of satisfying his con- 
science, and of assuming the functions of a minis- 
ter "lawfully called," according to the regula- 
tions of the country where he looked forward to 
pursue his professional career. He therefore pro- 
ceeded to London in the beginning of May, and 
without being acquainted with a single word of 
the English language, we find the catechist of 
the mountains embarking on board a steam-boat 
at Calais, landing at Dover half dead with sea- 
sickness, consigning himself to the chances of a 
night-coach, and arriving in the metropolis on a 
Sunday morning, with no other aid to help him 
through the mazes of a city, (which is more em- 
barrassing to a stranger than any other capital in 
Europe,) than a direction to the house of Mr. 



NEFF IN LONDON. 91 

Wilks. After puzzling out his way to his friend's 
abode, judge what must have been his forlorn 
feeling upon learning that Mr. Wilks was not at 
home, and that nobody in the house could speak 
French. Somehow or other the intelligent stran- 
ger, after many questions put to such passengers 
as, he hoped, might be able to reply to him in a 
language he could understand, got a clue, through 
the labyrinth of streets and lanes, to a French 
Chapel, where, he calculated, that, as it was Sun- 
day, he should find somebody who could hold in- 
tercourse with him, and put him in the train of 
profiting by his letters of introduction. The ex- 
cellent Mr. Scholl was the preacher at the chapel 
upon this occasion, and to him NerT addressed 
himself after the service with the modest request, 
that he would direct him to an hotel where 
French was spoken. The wanderer's delight 
must have been excessive, when Mr. Scholl 
kindly accosted him by name, and told him that 
he was aware of the errand upon which he had 
come, and that every thing should be done to pro- 
mote his views. He was placed in comfortable 
lodgings, and on the return of Mr. Wilks he was 
introduced by that gentleman to the ministers 
who were to receive him into their body. But 
though he received every attention from his new 
friends, during the interval that elapsed before 
the public ceremony which brought him to Eng- 
land, yet one or two only could hold conversation 
with him, and his time hung heavily on his hands. 
" My visits," said he in one of his letters, " are 
very insipid, I cannot talk English, nor they 
French, and the sooner I can get away, the hap- 



92 A THEOLOGICAL EXAMINATION. 

pier I shall be ; but I will remain as long as I can 
be forming connections, which may prove useful 
in promoting the reign of Christ in France." 

It was on the 19th of May, 1823, that NeflF, to 
use his own teims, "received a diploma in Latin, 
signed by nine ministers, of whom three were 
doctors in Theology, and one was a master of 
arts, and was ordained in a chapel in the Poultry 
in London." 

The questions proposed to him, in examination, 
were : — 

How do you know that you have been called 
by God ? 

What is it which has induced you to devote 
yourself to the ministry 1 

What are the doctrines which you regard as es- 
sentials % 

To the two first he gave answers, of which the 
following is the substance. " I have embraced 
the vocation of a minister of the Gospel, because 
the Sovereign Bishop of Souls has implanted an 
ardent desire in me to preach the Gospel, and be- 
cause, whenever I have directed my thoughts to 
other professions, I have felt my conscience bur- 
thened, and a secret voice has commanded me 
to announce the kingdom of God. Because God 
has been pleased to bless my labours, and many 
souls have already been brought to a knowledge 
of the Word, which he has permitted me to de- 
clare in his name : because he has graciously 
opened many doors to me, and in the course of 
the last two years I have been invited many times, 
by consistories and churches, so that I shall not 



NEPP'S CONFESSION OF FAITH- 93 

enter the vineyard of myself, and without a law- 
ful calling." 

To the third question, he replied : — " I do not 
pretend to penetrate into the secret of God, nor to 
explain how or why evil entered into the world : 
but I know that it exists, and that it dwells in our 
hearts; that we carry it with us from our birth, 
and that, excited by the example of the world, 
and the influence of Satan, it reigns in our souls, 
and makes us bring forth evil fruits to our con- 
demnation. I believe that in this state man is 
neither capable nor worthy of having any part in 
the kingdom of God, but that he deserves the 
Divine wrath, according to the justice of the Most 
High. I believe that there does not exist in our- 
selves, or in any created being, the means of es- 
caping from this state of perdition, but that God, 
loving us when we were his enemies, has sent into 
the world the Eternal Word, by which he made 
all things, and that this Word dwelt among us, 
under the name of Jesus, which signifies the 
Saviour. I believe that this Saviour is our right- 
eousness and redemption, and that his death and 
atonement have appeased the wrath of God. I 
believe that the true faith consists in being thor- 
oughly convinced of, and deeply affected by, our 
state of corruption, and of the justice of our con- 
demnation — in putting our whole trust in the 
sufferings of Jesus Christ, — and in the righteous- 
ness which is through Him and of Him. I be- 
lieve that we are not saved because we love God, 
but that we may love him, and that if we are 
saved by faith without the works of the law, we 
are created again in Jesus Christ to do the good 



94 neff's confession of faith. 

works for which God has prepared us. I believe 
that, in order to answer this object of our Saviour, 
it is absolutely necessary that he should write his 
law in our hearts. I believe that a change of 
heart is the result of true faith. 

" After these principal points, I believe that we 
ought, in the course of our instructions, 1. To 
convince men of their guilt by al] scriptural and 
reasonable means: 2. To conduct them to Jesus: 
3. To engage them to read and meditate on the 
word of God, and to pray for them that know not 
the truth. I believe that we ought to announce 
Jesus Christ and him crucified, without entering 
into unedifying discussions on points of doctrine 
contested among Christians. I believe that it is 
the duty of a good steward to give to each the 
nourishment which he requires, milk to babes and 
strong meat to men. Finally, I subscribe, both 
in matter of faith and practice, to the confessions 
of faith of the reformed churches of France and 
Switzerland, in the which I was born, and to 
which I desire to dedicate the services of my 
ministry." 

NerT lost no time in returning to France, and 
to the scene of his first labours in that country : 
but his journey to England had nearly been the 
means of defeating all his hopes and plans. He 
was represented to the French government as an 
agent of England, and when he presented him- 
self before the prefect of the department of the 
Isere at Grenoble, to meet any charge that might 
be made against him, that functionary candidly 
told him, that the minister of the interior had re- 
ceived information, that all the preachers not 



neff's reception at dauphtne. 95 

French, and more especially those who had re- 
ligious connections out of the kingdom, were in 
the pay of England, and were charged with some 
political mission. The prefect was at the same 
time polite and kind in his manner, and strongly 
advised Neff to take up letters of naturalization, as 
the best answer to the calumny, and the only way 
of securing his object in regard to a pastoral ap- 
pointment. 

The reception which the Protestants of Mens 
gave to their former catechist, on his re-appear- 
ing among them, would have been felt like a 
triumphal entrance to any but a person of his 
gentle and unassuming spirit. They left their 
shops and their husbandry work to meet him. 
They crowded round him, some half-stifled him 
in their embraces, others kissed his hand, others 
wept with joy, and all signified the sincerity of 
their affection and respect. When he called upon 
his acquaintances in the villages, similar testimo- 
nies of veneration were displayed. 

At St. Jean d'Heran, he was obliged to repress 
the out-bursting of delight with which he was 
welcomed. His approach had been announced 
by somedody w r ho ran before to give the joyful 
intelligence, " he is coming, 55 and on drawing 
near the village, he saw the bottom of the little 
hill, on which it stands, full of people, who were 
waiting to greet him. With his usual prudence 
and good sense, he foresaw that an unfavourable 
construction might be put upon these public indi- 
cations of esteem, and he begged one of his friends 
to go forward, and to request that the honest vil- 
lagers would return to their houses, where he 



96 THE DEPARTMENT OF THE HIGH ALPS. 

would visit them successively, and receive their 
cordial assurances of affection. For eight days, 
previously to his arrival, the inhabitants of St. 
Jean d'Heran had been anxiously expecting him, 
and its population had turned out more than once 
to hail his approach. 

But the cabals, of which some mention has 
been made in a preceding page, rendered it unad- 
visable for Neff to remain either in Mens or its 
immediate neighbourhood. The principal inha- 
bitants of St. Sebastian presented a requisition, 
in which they urged him to accept the office of 
pastor in that commune, and undertook to raise 
his salary among themselves, but he declined 
their generous offers, for the same reasons that 
induced him to remove himself from Mens. Per- 
haps it was no great act of self-denial to make up 
his mind to quit the department of the Isere, for 
though his affections were strongly fixed there^ 
yet his anxious desire to be at the post, where 
he could most effectually be of use, made him 
frequently turn a longing eye towards the section 
of the High Alps. " I am always dreaming of 
the High Alps," said he in a letter of the 8th Sept. 
1823, " and I would rather be stationed there 
than in the places which are under the beautiful 
sky of Languedoc. In the higher Alpine region 
I shall be the only pastor, and therefore more at 
liberty. In the south, I should be embarrassed 
by the presence and conflicting opinions of other 
pastors. With respect to the description which 
B — has given of those mountains,it may be correct 
as to some places, but still the country bears a 
strong resemblance to the Alps of Switzerland. 



NEFF ELECTED PASTOR OF THE HIGH ALPS. 97 

It has its advantages and even its beauties. If 
there are wolves and chamois, there are also cattle 
and pasturages, and glaciers, and picturesque spots 
and above all an energetic race of people, intelli- 
gent, active, hardy, and patient under fatigue, who 
offer a better soil for the Gospel, than the weal- 
thy and corrupt inhabitants of the plains of the 
south." 

At length his ardent wishes were gratified, and 
while he was staying at Grenoble, in October, 
1823, he received intelligence that the elders of 
the Protestant churches of Val Queyras and Val 
Fressiniere had made application to the consistory 
in his behalf, and thus he might shortly expect to 
receive his appointment from the president. " To- 
morrow," says the last sentence of one of his jour- 
nals, " with the blessing of God I mean to push 
for the Alps by the sombre and picturesque val- 
ley of Loysan." Within a few days after the first 
news of his intended destination, the impatient min- 
ister was on the scene of his future labours, explo- 
ring hamlet after hamlet, and forming plans for his 
conduct in that sacred office, which had so long 
been the subject of his hopes, and prayers, and 
hourly contemplation. To Fressiniere he first di- 
rected his steps, next to Guiilestre, where he met 
the elders of Val Queyras, and was hailed as their 
pastor elect. From Guillistre he lost no time in 
traversing the formidable pass that leads to Arvieux, 
Here all his enthusiasm was called into action by 
officiating in a church, which had recently been 
constructed on the ruins of that which was destroy- 
ed at the revocation of the edict of Nantes. 
At La Chalp, a hamlet of Arvieux, they showed 
9 



98 THE MOUNTAIN PARISH. 

him a new cottage, which was just finished for 
the residence of the expected minister, and 
four leagues further to the east, he found himself 
at San Veran, on the frontiers of France and Italy, 
and at the foot of a snowy ridge, which was the 
boundary line between the French Alpine valleys, 
and those of Piemont : but here he shall speak 
for himself, in a letter dated Guillistre, Oct. 31, 
1823. 

"I have only had a transient view of the 
churches of Queyras and Fressiniere, but they 
seem to be extremely interesting. I do not think 
that all the Protestants together, in this section, 
would amount to more than 600 or 700, and they 
are divided into six groups, and are at a great 
distance from each other. In summer these dis- 
tances are less,because you can cross the mountains > 
but in the winter you are obliged to follow the 
valleys which greatly lengthen the journey. The 
country nearer to Briancon is cold, and Queyras 
much more so, but there are some agreeable situ- 
ations. La Chalp in particular, where the pastor 
is to reside, faces the south, and is within a vast 
ampitheatre of mountains, where there is good 
milk, and excellent meat. The bread and the 
wine are brought from Briancon, or Guillistre. 
Besides his habitation, they supply their pastor with 
fuel." 

But before our candidate, for the most arduous 
piece of ecclesiastical preferment in Christendom, 
could be established in his mountain parish, there 
were many preliminary steps which he had to 
take. He must receive his diploma from the con- 
sistory of Oipierre, and his naturalization from 



neff's letter to his mother. 99 

the office of the minister in Paris ; and these doubts 
frequently crossed his anxious mind. Would the 
president of the consistory sanction the election 
of the elders of the parish ? Would the minister 
of the interior confirm it ? Would the keeper of 
the seals grant him letters of naturalization ? 
Would he not be obliged to make many an excur- 
sion to Orpierre, and even to undertake an expen- 
sive and weary journey to Paris, to press his suit, 
and perhaps to repeat this more than once ? Still 
he travelled on in hope, and resolved until all the 
formalities could he settled, to take charge of 
these churches provisionally, and to run the risk 
of receiving the government stipend or not, as it 
might happen. In fact, some of the necessary 
forms never were regularly obtained ! but the con- 
sistory, and the elders, and the inhabitants of the 
communes were so well satisfied that the church- 
es could not be better served, than by this active 
and right-minded foreigner, that by some manage- 
ment, which the higher authorities winked at, he 
remained in undisturbed possession of his cure 
of souls ; but I have not been able to ascertain, 
whether or not he received the government stip- 
end, or whether he drew from the funds of 
the continental Society only for his subsistence *. 
A letter to his mother, written on the 10th of De- 
cember, 1823, gives a lovely picture of the cheer- 
ful end energetic state of his mind, at this period 
and contains some touches in it, which remind us 

* Since the above was written I have been informed, 
that Neff did not receive the government stipend, but that 
his salary from the Continential Society, of about bOl. a 
year, was his principal, if not his sole maintenance. 



100 nepf's visit to his alpine churches. 

both of patriarchal times, and of the apostolical 
era of Christianity, when the messengers of the 
Gospel sallied forth with their scrips and their 
staves, preaching as they went that the kingdom 
of heaven was at hand ; and when they were re- 
ceived into the houses of the faithful as angels of 
God, and were ministered unto with all the hos- 
pitality and attention of primitive simplicity. 

" Since my last letter, I have been constantly 
on foot to the present hour. After having made 
several visits to my Alpine hamlets, I received a 
note from Blanc, which urged me to take the 
letters of the elders of Queyras and Fressiniere to 
Orpierre, and to lay them before the president of 
the consistory. I crossed the Col d'Orsiere (pro- 
bably from Gap) on the 27th of November, and 
went to our friend Eloi Cordier, who gave me an 
introduction to the president. On Saturday, the 
29th, I was at Fressiniere, when the elders added 
their signatures to those of the principal people of 
Queyras, and M. Barridon fortified my testimo- 
nials with the letter, which Professor Bonnard had 
written to him concerning me. On Sunday, the 
30th, I preached at Dormilleuse, the remotest 
village in the valley, and on Monday morning, at 
day-break, I set out to pass the Col d'Orsiere 
again, which seperates Fressiniere from Champ- 
saur, a valley through which the Drac flows. I 
took two guides with me, to assist in the passage 
of the mountain, which is one of the highest in 
France, and very seldom practicable at this time 
of the year. After leaving the village of Dormil- 
leuse, we walked three hours through snow, some 
of which had lately fallen, at the foot of a glacier, 






THE COL D'ORSIERE, 101 

and incessently on the ascent. The sky was 
clear, and the cold not excessive, although the 
elevation was so great. In many places the snow- 
was hard, but in some we sank above our knees. 
The peasants had protected my feet with slips of 
woolen cloth tied round my shoes, and we were 
well provided with provisons and good wine for 
the journey. Since the first fail of snow this 
season, which took place in September, only two 
men had effected the passage of the mountain. 
We could occasionally track their path, which 
also showed the foot-marks of wolves and chamois, 
#nd of some marmot-catchers. When we reached 
the summit of the Col, we had two hours of rapid 
.descent before we arrived at the foot of the snow- 
line, where we entered the first hamlet of the Val 
d'Orsiere, near the source of the Drac. Here we 
.dined, and my guides took their leave. I con- 
tinued my route along the Drac until nightfall, 
when I fortunately came upon the high road be- 
tween Gap and Grenoble. The next morning, at 
the dawn of light, I resumed my journey, and 
where do you think I turned my steps? Can you 
guess 1 Towards Mens ! (This was in the direc- 
tion the very reverse of Orpierre, but Neff's affec- 
tionate yearnings after his beloved catechumens 
in that quarter were irresistable.) It was my wish 
to induce Blanc to fulfil his promise, and to accom- 
pany me to Orpierre. I walked for five or six 
hours on the high road, and then having crossed 
the Drac, I took to the bye-paths, and towards 
sunset I arrived at Peyre, at the foot of Mont 
Chetel, about three quarters of a league from 
Mens. Paul, the uncle of Peter Baulme, was 
9* 



102 VISIT TO MENS. 

working near the village, and as soon as he per- 
ceived me, he left his cart, and ran to meet me. 
Nothing could exceed his surprise or joy. I 
then went to Baulme's house. Peter's father and 
mother, and several of the neighbours were in the 
garden j they did not perceive me till I was in 
the midst of them. Their astonishment was as 
great as that of Paul. The wife of the elder 
Girard, who hapened to be there, ran to call 
her husband — another person went in search of 
Peter Baulme, who was looking after the sheep. 
After supper, a party of the neighbours assembled 
at Baulme's house, and I discoursed for a long 
time on the kingdom of God. Our conversation 
was in the patois. At ten o'clock at night, I 
proceeded on to Mens, accompanied by Peter 
Baulme and the elder Desloix. I did not wish 
to arrive during the day, for fear of the eclat. 
The door of Pelissier's house was closed for the 
night. The next day I had visitors in abundance. 
Never did the arrival of a beloved father, who 
had been long absent from his family and long 
expected, produce greater joy. For myself, 
although I am not easily affected, yet I could not 
suppress certain strong emotions, on finding my- 
self once more among these dear friends and dear 
children. Poor Madame Bonnet, my former 
hostess, on hearing of my arrival, was seized with 
her own complaint, and was confined to hei bed 
till my departure. Her temperament would never 
allow her to bear any great excitement. It was 
determined that Blanc and I should go to Orpierre 
next day, Thursday ; but in the morning I found 
myself unwell. These frequent and long journeys 



VISIT TO ORPIERRE. 103 

had knocked me up. I took a warm bath, and 
found myself the better for it. Notwithstanding 
this delay, we meant to have set out the same 
day, but so much was said to Blanc, that he 
agreed to stop till the following morning. I, 
therefore, performed the Thursday service. A 
large congregation was present, although the 
country people had not peen apprized of my 
arrival. In the evening 1 held a meeting of our 
brethren at the house of Louis Pagen, and at a 
later hour I held a meeting of our sisters at that 
of Madame Duseigneur. I meant to have pro- 
ceeded on foot, but the kind family of Pelissier 
insisted on finding a pony for me ; and at sunrise, 
with Blanc by my side, mounted on a large grey 
horse, we were on the road for Orpierre." 

The interviews with the prefect and with M. 
D'Aldeberf, the president of the consistory of 
Orpierre, were satisfactory and we have now to 
contemplate Neff in a new character, as an autho- 
rized pastor of the department of the High Alps. 



CHAPTER IV. 



Description of the department of the High Alps — Resti- 
tution of Protestant rights — Organization of Reformed 
Churches of France — Nature and extent of NeiFs pas- 
toral charge — Henry Oberlin — Description of the Val- 
leys of Fressiniere and Queyras, and of NefFs parish — ■ 
The pass of the Guil — Neff at Arvieux, and in his pres- 
bytery at La Chalp. His progress through his parish 
— San Veran — Pierre Grosse — Foussillarde — The Pas- 
tor's manifold duties — Neffs winter journey to Val Fres- 
siniere — Palons — The Rimasse — Dormilleuse — Neff's 
description of Dormilleuse, and of the condition in 
which he found the remains of the primitive Christians 
there — His perilous labours there. 

Having now brought Neff to his land of promise, 
and placed him in that sphere of action so suitable 
to his character, it is necessary to fill up the out- 
line which I have sketched in the introduction, 
and to deliniate the locality and condition of the 
group of Protestant villages, which constituted his 
pastoral charge. 

The department of the High Alps is so called, 
from its being within the region of that branch of 
the Alps which separates France from Italy. The 
two loftiest mountains, on this part of the chain, 
are Mont Genevre and Mont Viso. The latter is 
one of the most conspicuous in Europe, from its 
elevation and bright snowy aspect and conical 



ical 



FRENCH PROTESTANTS. 105 

form. It rises as high as 13,000 feet above the 
level of the sea,< and there being no gigantic pin- 
nacle in the neighbourhood which rears his head 
to the same height as Mont Viso, it appears to be 
exalted to the very sky, and to leave all the other 
summits in the plains below. As the eye is 
directed towards Mont Genevre on the left, and 
towards Mont Viso on the right hand, from Gap, 
we will say, which is nearly the centre of the 
department, it ranges over a succession of jagged 
peaks and icy ridges, which seem to be utterly 
inaccessible to the foot of man. But in the 
gorges of these mountains, there are spots which 
the necessities of man have rendered habitable. 
These, as I have shown in my preliminary re- 
marks, have been the asylum of families, who 
have suffered oppression for conscience sake at all 
periods of persecution, from the persecutions of 
Marcus Aurelian in the second century, to those 
of Louis XIV. and Louis XV. In the year 1786, 
the successor of these monarchs published an act 
of toleration, and for the first time since the revo- 
cation of the edict of Nantes,(a century before), 
Christians, who were not Roman Catholics, were 
permitted to worship God in public without 
molestation. But so little intercourse did the in- 
habitants on this remote and secluded quarter hold 
with the rest of the world, that I was assured by 
an aged Protestant of San Verant a French village, 
at the foot of Mont Viso, that he and his family 
did not hear of it till four years after. And many 
years subsequently to this, the Protestants of the 
department had no other opportunity of receiving 
the consolations of religion, according to the ordi- 



106 RESTITUTION OF PROTESTANT RIGHTS^ 

nances of the Church, than that which was afforded 
them by the precarious visits of the Vaudois min- 
isters from the Italian side of the Alps. During 
the hundred years of persecution from 1686 to 
1786, and up to the period of the establishment 
of a native ministry, these services had been cheer- 
fully rendered by the pastors of the valleys of Pie- 
mont, as often as they could ; but the distance 
and the danger (while it was at the risk of the 
heaviest personal penalty to perform these duties,} 
rendered them necessarily few and far between. 
At length the consular government of France, in 
the yearl802*, conferred privileges on the mem- 
bers of the reformed religion, which proved a 
new era for Protestantism. The Protestant 
churches were so far put on a level with the Ro- 
man Catholic churches, that they were to have an 
organization sanctioned by the state, and their pas- 
tors were to receive stipends from the public treas- 
ury. But at the same time, it was enacted, that 
these privileges could be enjoyed under certain 
regulations only. The principal of these were : — 
That none but Frenchman should exercise the 
ministerial functions. 

* The French reformed church, therefore, after the year 
1802, became a national, legalized, established church, 
governed by its own laws, and at liberty to follow its own 
movements. Its ministers were recognized, protected and 
paid by government, but still in a certain degree the reg- 
ulations, according to which it was to entitle itself to its 
privileges, fettered it. After the restoration of the Bour- 
bons, a jealous court took care to haveiittied fast to rule,, 
and by the technical obstacles which were thrown in the 
way of organization and church building, retarded the 
progress of Protestanism. 



ORGANIZATION OF PROTESTANT CHURCHES. 107 

That no pastoral appointment should take place^ 
except under the seal of a local consistory, and 
with the sanction of the government. 

That a consistory should consist of not less than 
6000 souls of the same communion, and might be 
divided into sections. 

That each consistory might have a certain num- 
ber of pastors — (six, the greatest number,) and 
that this number should not be augmented without 
the express permission of government. 

That where a consistory had not been establish- 
ed, and there were Protestants enough to consti- 
tute one, the heads of twenty five of the principal 
families might proceed to carry their wishes into 
effect, by a requisition to the prefect or sub-pre- 
fect. 

That the discipline of the churches, thus organ- 
ized, should be the same as that of the reibrmed 
churches of France, previously to the revocation of 
the edict of Nantes, and that there should be no 
change in the discipline, without the authority of 
government. 

That the amount of stipend to be allotted to 
each pastor should depend upon the population of 
the commune wherein the pastor should officiate, 
and that 3000 francs should be tre highest, and 
1200 francs the lowest amount of stipend. 

That a house or presbytery, anl garden, might 
be provided for the pastor, at the expense of the 
commune, in addition to his stipend. 

That the expense of building and repairing 
churches and presbyteries, should be defrayed 
by the commune aocording to a fixed assess- 
ment. 



108 neff's parish. 

That all persons born in foreign countries, who 
are descended from Frenchmen or Frenchwomen, 
exiles on account of their religion, may obtain the 
rights of French subjects, on fixing their residence 
in France, and taking the oath of allegiance. 

The Protestants of the department of the High 
Alps were r.ot able to establish a consistory till the 
year 1805, and though the department is eighty- 
four miles in length, and fifty-seven in breadth, it 
has never had but too ecclesiastical sections, or 
divisions, since the restitution of Protestant rights, 
to which pastors have been appointed, viz. those of 
Orpierre and Arvieux. The section of Arvieux 
(so called because the presbytery is in the com- 
mune of Arvieux,) is nearest to the frontier of Italy, 
and spreads over two civil divisions or arrondisse- 
ment&v — the arrondissement of Embrun, and the 
arrondissement of Briancon. . This constituted the 
parish of Neff: it consisted of seventeen or eight- 
een villages, occupying an extent of sixty miles, 
taken in a straight geographical line from east to 
west, but nearly eighty miles must be traversed 
through the windings of the mountains, in the 
journey from one extreme point to the other. Up 
to the time when NerTtook charge of this laborious 
parish, there had been no regularly appointed and 
resident minister for any length of time together. 
It had been occasionally served by the pastor of 
Orpierre, and atone period a son of Oberlin had ta- 
ken charge of it for a few months, Every thing 
connected with the name of Oberlin, the celebrated 
pastor of the Ban de la Roche, is so precious, that 
it will be a matter of painful interest to the reader 
to know, that this son of his, Henry of whom, 



HENRY OBERLIN. 109 

mention is here made, fell a sacrafice to his exer- 
tions among the Protestants in the south of France. 
His dying moments form a beautiful episode in 
the memoirs of Oberlin, which I gratefully transfer 
to these pages. 

" The immediate occasion of Henry's death was 
supposed to arise from a cold,which he took in as- 
sisting to extinguish a fire that had broke out in 
the night in a town on his route, as he was ma- 
king, in 1816, a circuit of 1800 miles in the south 
of France, with a view to inspect the state of the 
Protestant churches, and to ascertain the means 
of supplying them with the Holy Scriptures. The 
fatigue attending the remainder of the journey, 
added to the seeds of incipient disease, so shatter- 
ed his constitution, that soon after arriving in his 
native valley, he was induced to remove to Rothau, 
instead of remaining at Waldbach, in order to re- 
ceive the benefit of his brother Charles's advice, 
who, in addition to his clerical functions, was a 
medical practitioner. On perceiving, however, 
that the complaint rapidly gained ground, he 
desired, with the greatest resignation and compo- 
sure, to be conveyed home again to his father's 
house, that he might die there. So universally 
was Oberlin beloved, that his parishioners seized 
every opportunity of proving their attachment to 
him and his family, and on this occasion a truly 
affecting scene presented itself. No sooner was 
Henry's request made known in the village, than 
twelve peasants immediately presented themselves 
at the parsonage house, and offered to carry him 
upon a litter to Waldbach, which is about six 
miles distant from Rothau. He could not, how- 
10 



110 HENRY OBERLIN. 

ever, bear exposure to the open air, and it was 
therefore found expedient to place him in a 
covered cart, but as it slowly proceeded through 
the valley, the faithful peasants walked before it, 
carefully removing every stone, that the beloved 
invalid might experience as little inconvenience as 
possible from jolting over the rough roads. 

A few weeks after his arrival under the paternal 
roof, his life, which had promised such extensive 
usefulness, drew near its close. Faith mingled 
with pious resignation, to the will of his heavenly 
Father, who was thus early pleased to call him 
to himself, was strikingly exhibited in his last 
moments, and on the 16th of Nov. 1817, without 
a struggle or sigh, he sweetly slept in Jesus." 

For want of a regular pastor, the people of Vals 
Fressiniere and Queyras used to assemble on 
Sundays in the churches, and oratories, of which 
there were six of the former, and two of the latter, 
and some one or other read the service. Such 
was the general situation and the condition of the 
parish which Neff undertook to serve, and in 
which he first made trial of his strength in the 
winter season. But before I proceed with my 
narrative, I will run over the names and relative 
position^ of the several villages, inhabited by 
NefPs scattered flock, reserving the description of 
them till I accompany him to those scenes of his 
arduous duties. 

The valley of Queyras (which communicates 
directly with the Protestant valleys of Piemont 
by the pass of the Col de la Croix,) extending 
from the foot of Mont Viso to Mont Dauphin, 
along the whole length of the river Guil, and com- 



EXTENT OF NEFE's CHARGE. Ill 

prising the glens which follow the course of the 
mountain torrents which roll into the Guil, forms 
the eastern quarter of the section of Arvieux. The 
Protestant families dwell principally in the com- 
mune of Arvieux, and its hamlets La Chalp and 
Brunichard, and in the commune of Molmes, and 
its hamlets San Veran, Pierre Grosse and Fousil- 
larde. They have a church at Arvieux, one at 
San Veran, and another at Fousillarde. The dis- 
tance between the churches of Arvieux and San 
Veran is not less than twelve miles. The western 
quarter of the section consists of the valley of 
Fressiniere, and its hamlets Chancelal, Palons, 
Violins, Minsas, and Doimilleuse, which occupy 
the banks of a torrent that pours its waters into 
the Durance, half way between Briancon and Em- 
brun : and of the commune of Champsaur, sepa- 
rated from the valley of Fressiniere by a mountain 
and glacier. In the valley of Fressiniere, there 
are two Protestant churches, those of Violins and 
Dormilleuse ; and in the commune of Champsaur, 
there is a church at St. Laurent. Sixty miles 
nearly of rugged road must be trodden, before 
the pastor, whose residence is at La Chalp, be- 
yond Arvieux, can perform his duties at Champ- 
saur. But besides these two principal groups of 
Protestant villages, there are two outlying branch- 
es of the section, that of Vars, which is eight 
miles south of Guillestre, or twenty from Ar- 
vieux, and that of La Grave, which is beyond 
Briancon, and twenty one miles north of Guilles- 
tre, or thirty-three miles from the minister's pres- 
bytery. Suppose, then, that the pastor has fixed 
his abode at the house which is provided for him 



112 ALPINE SCENERY. 

at La Chalp, in the commune of Arvieux, he has 
a journey of twelve miles before he can reach the 
scene of his labours in a western direction, and 
sixty before he can arrive at it in the opposite 
quarter. He has also a distance of twenty miles 
towards the south, and thirty-three towards the 
north, when his services are required by the little 
flocks at Vars and La Grave. A man of Neff's 
zeal could not but sink under the weight of such 
a burden. And who does not glorify God on re- 
flecting, that if the seeds of real piety could spring 
up in this rugged ground, it is only to the protect- 
ing culture of the Great Sower, that any produc- 
tion can be ascribed ! There is a twofold lesson 
to be learnt in following the steps of a pastor 
through these wilds. It is well that we should 
see, how hard some of our brethren work, and how 
hard they live ; and that we should discover, to 
our humiliation, that it is not always where there 
is the greatest company of preachers, that the 
word takes the deepest root. 

There is this difference between the valleys of 
Piemont, and those of Fressiniere and Queyras. 
The former are for the most part smiling with 
verdure and foilage, the latter are dark and sterile. 
In each, alp rises above alp, and piles of rock of 
appalling aspect block up many of the defiles, and 
utterly forbid any further advance to the bold- 
est adventurer. But the Italian valleys are so 
beautifully diversified by green meadows and 
rich corn fields, and thick foilage of forest and fruit 
trees, that the eye is perpetually relieved and de- 
lighted. Add to these the herds of cattle in the 
pasturages, and the innumerable flocks of goats 



THE PASS OF THE GU1L. 113 

and sheep browsing upon the mountain sides, and 
skipping from rock to rock, and you have an ani- 
mated picture of life and enjoyment which cannot 
be surpassed. The Piemontese valleys form a 
garden, with deserts as it were in view : some 
of them indeed are barren and repulsive, but these 
are exceptions. On the contrary, in the Alpine 
retreats of the French Protestants, fertility is the 
exception, and barrenness the common aspect. 
There the tottering cliffs, the sombre and frowning 
rocks, which, from their fatiguing continuity, 
look like a mournful veil, which is never to be 
raised, and the tremendous abysses, and the com- 
fortless cottages, and the ever present dangers, 
from avalanches, and thick mists and clouds, pro- 
claim that this is a land which man never would 
have chosen, even for his hiding place, but from 
the direst necesssity. 

Neff's Journal has noted the 16th of January, 
1824, as the day on which he arrived at Arvieux, 
to take possession of the habitation provided for 
the pastor of the district. I have stated in more 
places than one, that a taste for magnificent 
scenery, formed a strong feature in his character, 
and it never could have been more gratified than 
on his journey from Gap, through Guillestre to 
his new abode. The road from the latter is by 
the pass from the Guil, and in the whole range of 
Alpine scenery, rich as it is in the wonders of 
nature, there is nothing more terribly sublime 
than this mountain path. A traveller would be 
amply repaid in visiting this region, for the sole 
purpose of exploring a defile, which in fact is one 
of the keys to France, on the Italian frontier, and 
10* 



114 THE PASS OF THE GUIL. 

is therefore guarded at one end by the strong 
works of Mont Dauphin, and at the other by the 
fortress of Chateau Queyras, whose guns sweep 
the entrance of the pass. For several miles the 
waters of the Guil occupy the whole breadth of 
the defile, which is more like a chasm, or a vast 
rent in the mountain, than a ravine, and the path, 
which in places will not admit more than two to 
walk side by side, is hewn out of the rocks. 
These rise to such a giddy height, that the soar- 
ing pinnacles, which crown them, look like the 
fine points of masonry-work on the summit of a 
cathedral : meantime the projecting masses, that 
overhang the wayfaring man's head, are more 
stupendous, and more menacing than the imagin- 
ation can conceive. Many of these seem to be 
hanging by you know not what, and to be ready 
to fail at the least concussion. 



Q,uos super atra silex jamjam lapsura, cadentique 
Imrainet assimilis. 



Perhaps they have been so suspended for centu- 
ries, and will so continue for centuries to come ; 
but be that as it may, enormous fragments are 
frequently rolling down, and as the wind roars 
through the gloomy defile, and threatens to sweep 
you into the torrent below, you wonder what 
power it is which holds together the terrifying 
suspensions, and prevents your being crushed by 
their fall. Much has been related of the peril of 
traversing a pass on the summit of a mountain, 
with precipice yawning beneath your feet ; but in 
fact there is no danger equal to a journey through 



ARVIEUX. 115 

a defile like this, when you are at the bottom of 
the Alpine gulf, with hundreds of feet of crum- 
bling rock above your head. But terribly mag- 
nificent as this pass is, and though it must at oth- 
er times have made a powerful impression on 
NefF's mind, his journal does not contain a word 
either of its grandeur or its terrors. He forced 
his way through it in the middle of January, 
when it is notoriously unsafe to attempt the pas- 
sage. Several travellers lose their lives here al- 
most every year ; but our pastor's anxiety to be 
at his post of duty was the strongest feeling that 
moved him, and he thought of nothing but the 
field of usefulness which was now before him. 

On issuing out of the depths of the defile, the 
frowning battlements of Chateau Queyras, built 
on a lofty projecting cliff, on the edge of the tor- 
rent, and backed by the barrier wall of Alps, 
which at this season of the year towers like a bul- 
wark of ice between the dominions of France, 
and the king of Sardinia, present a picture of the 
most striking magnificence. Every thing com- 
bines to give an interest to the scene. In the far 
distance are the snowy peeks of Mont Viso, of daz- 
zling white, and, in the foreground, the rustic 
aqueducts, composed in the simplest manner of 
wooden troughs, supported on lofty scaffolding, 
and crossing and recrossing the narrow valley, 
which form a striking contrast between the dura- 
bility of the works of God's hands, the everlasting 
mountains, and the perishable devises of men. 
About a mile and a half, on the Guillestre side, 
from Chateau Queyras, a rough path, on the left, 
conducts to Arvieux: and here a different prospect 



116 ARVIEUX. 

opens to the view. The signs of cultivation and 
of man's presence increase : some pretty vales, and 
snug looking cottages please the eye ; and in one 
spot a frail but picturesque foot-bridge of pines 
carelessly thrown across a chasm, invites the stran- 
ger to approach and inspect it. He is almost ap- 
palled to find himself on the brink of an abyss, 
many fathoms deep, at the bottom of which a body 
of water foams and chafes, which has forced itself 
a passage through the living rock. The narrow- 
ness and depth of this chasm, and the extraordi- 
nary manner in which it is concealed, from obser- 
vation, till you are close to it, foim one of the 
greatest natural curiosities in a province which 
abounds in objects of the same sort. 

Neff followed the custom of those who directed 
him to his pastoral dwelling-place, and called it 
Arvieux in his journals. It is not, however, situ- 
ated in the principal village of the commune so 
called, but at La Chalp, a small hamlet beyond. 
The church is at Arvieux, but the minister's resi- 
dence is, with the majority of the Protestant pop- 
ulation, higher up the valley ; for in this glen, as 
in all the others where the remains of the primi- 
tive Christians still exist, they are invariably found 
to have crept up to the furthest habitable part of 
it. In the Valley of Fressiniere, the Protestants, 
in like manner, have penetrated to the edge of the 
glacier, where they were most likely to remain 
unmolested ; and again, in the commune of Mo- 
lines, Grosse Pierre, and Fousillarde, are at the 
very furthest point of vegetation, and there is 
nothing fit for mortal to take refuge in, between 



1-he pastok's house. 117 

San Veran and the eternal snows which mantle 
the pinnacles of Mont Yiso. 

In the page which records his arrival at the 
humble white cottage, which had been recently 
prepared for the pastor, in La Chalp, NerT has not 
inserted any observation about the comforts or 
conveniences of the habitation designed for his 
future dwelling place. It is a small low building, 
without any thing to distinguish it but its white 
front ; such at least was its aspect when I saw it : 
but there was an air of cheerfulness in its situation, 
facing the south, and standing in a warm sunny 
spot, which contrasted strongly with the dismal 
hovels of Dormilleuse, where he afterwards spent 
most of the winter months. It is most probable 
that he found it totally devoid of every thing 
which administers to comfort, beyond locality, for 
a memorandum, written a few days after his ar- 
rival, mentions his having made a journey to Guil- 
lestre,for the purchase of some household utensils. 
Once for all, therefore, I may remark,that the read- 
er, whose notions of the happiness of a pastor's 
life have been formed in the smiling parsonage, or 
snug manse, or who has considered it as deriving 
its enjoyment from a state of blissful repose and 
peacefulness, has widely erred from the mark in 
NefFs case, His happiness was to be busily em- 
ployed in bringing souls to God : he seems not to 
have set the slightest value on any of the comforts 
of a home : or, if he valued them, to have sacrific- 
ed them cheerfully to his sense of duty. One of 
the principal charms in the recital of a good cler- 
gyman's life, is the character of the clergyman at 
home. But NerT had none of the comforts of this 



118 LA CHALP AND BRUNICHARD. 

life to cheer him. No family endearments wel- 
comed him to a peaceful fireside after the toils of 
the day : nothing of earthly softness smoothed 
his seat or his pillow. His was a career of anxi- 
ety, unmitigated and unconsoled by any thing but 
a sense of duties performed, and of acceptance with 
God. The commune of Arvieux, and the cheer- 
ful hamlets of La Chalp and Brunichard, were the 
brightest spots in his extensive parish ; but they 
were not the fairest to his eye, for he complains 
in several of his letters, that the people there were 
spoilt by the advantages of their situation, and 
were by no means so well inclined to profit by his 
instructions, as the inhabitants of less favoured 
spots. 

The natives of Arvieux itself are almost all Ro- 
man Catholics, those of La Chalp and Brunichard 
are, for the most part, Protestants. There were 
eight families in the former, and eighteen in the 
latter, who waited on NeflPs ministry ; and two 
families in a small hamlet between Arvieux and 
Chateau Queyras, were converted from the Ro- 
mish to the Protestant faith, by the force of his 
reasoning, and the consistency of his holy life. 
His gentle spirit had no relish for that kind of con- 
troversy, whose object is the mere triumph over 
an adversary by the force of argument ; and his 
success among the members of the other church, 
which was far greater than was ever known be- 
fore in different quarters where he explained the 
word of God, proceeded, in a great measure, from 
the mild and affectionate manner in which he di- 
rected their attention to the only name in whom, 
and through whom, they might receive health and 



LA CHALP AND BRUNICRARD. 119 

salvation. The impression which he left behind 
him, even in this quarter, where he thought that 
he did not perceive the most abundant fruits of his 
ministry, continued to be discerned when I visit- 
ed Arvieux in 1829, in the amicable relation which 
still subsisted between the Roman Catholics and 
Protestants of the commue. The kindest inter- 
change of friendly and charitable office took place 
between them : the children of the two churches 
went to the same schools, and read the Bible to- 
gether, without interruption ; and a young man,, 
who would not quit my side for a whole day, when 
he found that I took an interest in his late venerated 
pastor, spoke of the Cure as a kind good man, 
whom every body respected. 

It was on Friday, the 16th of January, 1824, 
that Neflf established himself at La Chalp, as the 
pastor of the section of Arvieux ; on the Monday 
following we find him, a second time within four 
days, encountering the fearful pass of the Guil, 
and on the evening of the same day looking after 
his little flock at Vars, twenty miles from Arvieux. 
He remained at Vars on the Tuesday and part of 
Wednesday, organizing little associations for mu- 
tual instruction during his absence. On Thurs- 
day and Friday in the same week, he was at his 
post again at Arvieux, La Chalp, and Brunichard, 
catechising the children, making himself ac- 
quainted with his people ; and on Saturday, in 
spite of a fall of snow, and a storm of wind 
which swept the valley, he directed his steps 
towards San Veran, that he might take the ear- 
liest opportunity of administering the public Sun- 
day service in the church, which was situated in 



120 SAN VERAN. 

the farthest western boundary of his parish, 
twelve miles from his head quarters. 

" The snow," says his journal, " was from 
seven to ten inches deep, and the wind, which blew 
a hurricane, raised and tossed it about in clouds. 
Not a trace could be seen of the paths, and I was 
six hours performing twelve miles. But this was 
the only bad journey that I have yet made in the 
Alps, and notwithstanding the exposure, I arrived 
perfectly well at San Veran, and held a meeting in 
the evening. The next day I preached in the 
church, catechised in the afternoon, and assembled 
some willing hearers around me in the evening, 
whom I addressed on the one thing needful, so 
that I did not lose a single hour in this commune, 
during my stay there. It is the highest, and con- 
sequently* the most pious village in the Valley of 
Queyras ; in fact, it is said to be the most elevated 
in Europe, and it is a provincial saying, relating 
to the mountain of San Veran, ' La piu alta on Pi 
mindgent pan,' i. e. it is the highest spot where 
bread is eaten. The air is sharp, but though it was 
the 25th of January, the weather was so fine that 
the snow melted on the ground as it does in April. 
There are about twenty-three Protestant families 
here. The men are intelligent, well read in scrip- 
ture, and very anxious to converse on spiritual 
subjects. Some of the women are the same, but 
for the most part the females are ignorant, and con- 
fined in their notions, through the whole of this 

* A similar observation was made to me by more than 
one Vaudois pastor in Piemont, on the relative degree of 
piety in the lower and more elevated mountain hamlets* 



SAN VERAN.o 121 

country. I have been much gratified by fny ex- 
cursions to this place^ which I have already visit- 
ed four or five times. 5J 

The date of these observations was the 10th of 
February, so that from the 16th of January, in 
the course of twenty-five days, this indefatigable 
servant of God had paid four visits, at the least, 
to his flock at San Yeran, having, during the same 
period, as I shall presently show, displayed an 
equal share of anxiety for his parishioners in 
quarters still more distant. It was by these means 
that he was so successful in winning souls, and 
having favour with the people : he was in con- 
stant intercourse with them, going from house to 
house ; praying with the sick, discoursing with 
those in health on religious topics, and instruct- 
ing the young with all the tenderness and assidu- 
ity of a parent. The reception which he met at 
San Veran, was exactly what might be expected 
from the descendants of those men, who used to 
put their own lives in jeopardy by receiving the 
fugitive Vaudois pastors, when they were obliged 
to fly from persecution in* their own valleys, and 
a day's journey by the pass of Mont Viso, or the 
Col de la Croix, brought them to this secluded 
village. It is so secluded, so fenced in by rock 

* The Protestants of the valleys of Piemont and Dau- 
phin e afforded each other mutual shelter, when they were 
pursued by their enemies. Gilles relates an affecting in- 
cident of the refugees from Italy throwing themselves on 
the protection of their poor brethren of Fressiniere in 
1566, who most kindly received and shared their scanty 
pittance with them, fearless of the double perils of starva- 
tion and the vengeance of their common foe. 
11 



122 SAN VERAN. 

and mountain barriers, that up to this hour there 
is not a road approaching it, over which a wheel 
has ever passed. Thus situated, on the very out- 
skirts of human society, and at a distance from its 
vices, refinements, and luxuries, its natives rarely 
quit their own haunts to settle elsewhere, and 
strangers have no attraction to guide them to a 
corner, where none of the comforts, and very few 
of the conveniences of life, have yet been intro- 
duced. I believe one Englishman only had found 
his way to San Veran before myself ; and when 
my wife and I entered it, the sight of a female, 
dressed entirely in linen, was a phenomenon so 
new to simple peasants, whose garments are never 
any thing but woolen, that Pizarro and his mail- 
clad companions were not greater objects of curi- 
osity to the Peruvians, than we were to these 
mountaineers. The women gathered round us, 
and examined first one part of Mrs. Gilly's dress 
and then another, with an inquisitiveness and ad- 
miration, which were sufficiently amusing. We 
saw no symptoms of want, but every thing indi- 
cated that the necessaries of life are far from abun- 
dant, either in San Veran or the contiguous ham- 
lets of Pierre-Grosse and Foussllarde, and that 
great abstinence at times, and moderation always, 
are required to discipline them against the long 
winters, and the scanty supply of food, which re- 
sult from the climate and soil of a region, much 
better adapted to the habits of the bird of prey, and 
the wild beast, than of man. 

But San Veran is a garden, and a scene of de- 
lights, when compared with Dormilleuse, to which 
the pa/stor hastened, as soon as he had put things 



SAN VERAN. 123 

in order in this part of his parish. Here the 
houses are built like log-houses, of rough pine 
trees laid one above another, and composed of 
several stories, which have a singularly pictur- 
esque look, not unlike the chalets in Swizerland, 
but loftier and much more picturesque. On the 
ground floor the family dwells, hay and un- 
thrashed corn occup3 r the first story, and the 
second is given up to grain, and to stores of bread- 
cakes and cheeses ranged on frame-work suspen- 
ded from the roof. But at Bormilleuse, the huts 
are wretched constructions of stone and mud,from 
which fresh air, comfort, and cleanliness seem to 
be utterly excluded. Cleanliness, indeed, is not a 
virtue which distinguishes any of the people 
in these mountains ; and with such a nice sense 
of moral perception as they display, and with such 
strict attention to the duties of religion, it is as- 
tonishing that they have not yet learnt to prac- 
tise those ablutions in their persons or habitations, 
which are as necessary to comfort as to health. 
Even among the better provided, for they are all 
peasants alike, tillers of the earth, and small pro- 
prietors, the wealthiest of whom (if we can speak 
of wealth, even comparatively,' on such poor soil,) 
puts his hand to the spade and hoe with the same 
alacrity as the poorest, the same uncleanliness 
prevails ; their apartments are unswept, their 
woolen garments unwashed, and their hands and 
faces as little accustomed to cold water, as if 
there was a perpetual drought in the land. I 
should fear that the excellent Neff, wifh all the 
improvements which he introduced inte-his parish 
either omitted, or failed to convince the foils there 



124 SAN VERAN • 

that cleanliness is not a forbidden luxury, but one 
of the necessary duties of life. 

But though their habitations and their persons 
are, thus far, likely to leave some dissagreeable 
impressions in those whose sensations have been 
rendered quick and impatient by English habits, 
yet the simplicity, amiability, and good manners 
which prevail among these children of nature 
are so winning, and the images and associations 
that rise up in the mind, in this retreat of Protes- 
tantism in France, supply such profuse enjoy- 
ment, and give such a grace, as well as a charm, 
to any intercourse with them, that it is impossible 
not to write down the time, that may be spent in 
San Veran and in its contiguous hamlets, among 
the most interesting of one's life. To those who 
understand the patois, or to whom it is accurately 
translated, as it was to us, the poetical and ele- 
gant turn which is given to conversation, by the 
constant use of figures and metaphors derived from 
mountain scenery, and from the accidents and 
exposures of Alpine life, enhance the pleasure, 
and send the traveller home well satisfied with his 
excursion. In short, it is the moral and intellec- 
tual refinement about these mountaineers, which 
renders their society interesting in a high degree, 
and furnishes matter for reflection long after- 
wards. 

The pastor devoted Monday and Tuesday of 
his second week in the valley of Queyras to 
Pierre-Grosse and Fousillarde, which like San 
Veran, are frontier villages ; and there too, he 
organized little companies of the well disposed r 
who were to meet at stated times to read the Bible 






PIERRE-GROSSE AND FOUSILLARDE. 125 

and to do such things for their mutual improve- 
ment, as he thought might profitably be done, 
when they had not the benefit of his presence. 
He was obliged to perform divine service in a barn 
or large stable, for want of a better place of wor- 
ship. He saw that he could not render his min- 
istrations efficient in such a widely extended par- 
ish, unless he resorted to such measures as these 
and therefore he began at once upon a system 
which he pursued as long as he remained. The 
good effects were soon manifest, for the inhabitants 
of Pierre-Grosse and Fousillarde, who were first 
collected together for public worship in a rude 
stable, w r ere anxious to gather round their pastor 
in a more suitable place. They willingly taxed 
themselves, and out of their slender resources 
built a neat little church, twenty-seven feet long 
by twenty feet wide, and thus added one more to 
the Protestant sanctuaries of God in this depart- 
ment. The cost in money was 24Z. or 600 francs. 
Materials, such as the conntry afforded, and la- 
bour, were easily supplied but it, was far from 
easy to provide the extraneous adjuncts and the 
money contribution ; and when I was there, the 
year NefT died, there was still a debt of 300 francs, 
or 121. upon the building, which the twenty-five 
humble families of the two hamlets will probably 
be long before they liquidate. Money is necessa- 
rily very scarce among a people, who can seldom 
raise more corn than will meet their own demands. 
The few cattle that they rear are driven far be- 
fore they can be sold, and the return in coin will 
barely pay their taxes, and purchase the indispen- 
sable household articles and implements of hus- 
11* 

■ 



126 



ALPINE POVERTY. 



bandry of which they stand in need. Oftentimes 
even the ordinary resources, scanty as they are, 
fail them, and, for this reason, the poor Alpine is 
obliged, like the swallow, to migrate during the 
long winter, and to leave his barren rocks in search 
of subsistence, where the climate is more favoura- 
ble to the wants of human nature. This was the 
casein 1824. The unproductiveness of the soil, 
and the dearth, were so great, that many were 
obliged to sell their cattle at a very low price, 
because the forage failed, and they had not the 
means of getting them into a saleable condition ; 
and NerT frequently met large parties, consisting of 
young men, and even of fathers of families, mo- 
ving from their own hamlets, and going to seek 
work on any terms in distant provinces. 

On the evening of Tuesday, the 27th of Janu- 
a^, NefT returned to Arvieux; and after catechising 
his young people, and putting things in a satis- 
factory train there, he set out for the eastern di- 
vision of his charge ; and having again traversed 
the formidable pass of the Guil in safety, reached 
the Valley of Fressiniere in time to preach at Vi- 
olins, on Sunday the first of February. 

After leaving Guillistre, which is not far from 
the junction of the Guil and Durance, at the foot 
of Mont Dauphin, the traveller, whose steps are 
directed towards the Valley of Fressiniere, pursues 
his path for about five miles northwards, along 
the high road which leads from Embrun to Brian- 
con. This is a cheerful route, enlivened by the 
impetuous waters of the Durance, and a view of 
ever-changing mountain scenery, the lofty and 
rugged summits assuming new forms at every 



VALE OF THE DURANCE. 127 

turn of the road. There are also some remark- 
able pretty spots in the vale, through which the 
river flows with turbulent force, and among the 
rest the village of La Roche, with its small lake, 
cannot fail to please the eye. After passing 
through La Roche, and crossing the Durance by 
a long timber bridge, the ascent to the Valley of 
Fressiniere begins. A steep aclivity rises so 
abruptly from the river, that at first sight there is 
no appearance of any practicable mode of advan- 
cing, but the eye presently discerns a shepherd's 
path which creeps up the mountain in an oblique 
direction. This leads over some very rugged 
ground to a defile, through which a rocky tor- 
rent rushes with the noise of thunder. On each 
side of these wild waters, which roar and fling 
their spray about in clouds, there are groups of 
cottages, and an alpine bridge with a cascade 
above it. These with the background of rocks, 
form as complete a picture of mountain life as the 
imagination can require. This hamlet is Palons, 
and the torrent called the Rimasse, is the guide 
which conducts to the Valley of Fressiniere, there 
is no mistaking the way. The next village at the 
distance of a league, is Fressiniere, which gives 
its name to the valley. Another league brings to 
Violins ; two miles beyond is Minsas, and then 
comes the toilsome, rough, and clambering route 
of three miles to Dormilleuse ; so that, in fact, from 
La Roche to Dormilleuse is one continued ascent 
of five hours, or supposing that a league an hour 
is the pace, of fifteen miles. Between Palons and 
Fressiniere, there is a lovely fertile vale, enclosed 
on each side by steep mountains, and producing 



128 VALLEY OF FRESSINIERE, 

several kinds of grain and fruit trees ; but this 
cheerful prospect soon changes, and every step 
leads to scenes which are more and more dreary. 
After passing through Minsas, the face of the 
country is perfectly savage and appalling. Blocks 
of stone detached from the overhanging rocks, 
strew the ground and threaten to impede all fur- 
ther progress. The signs of productiveness are 
fewer and fewer. Here and there some thin patches 
of rye or oats bespeak the poor resources of the 
inhabitants, who have been driven up into this 
desert, and the occasional track of the wolf, and 
the heavy flap of the vulture's wing over head, tell 
who are its proper natives. If such is its summer 
welcome, what must have been its chilling aspect 
when Neff made his journey thither on the last 
day of January ? But he had that within him 
which warmed his heart, and animated his spirits 
as he penetrated through the pathless snows of the 
defile, and crossed the raw gusty summit that lay 
in his way. His was a work of love-he was go- 
ing to preach that word, of which the ancestors of 
the Dormilleusians had been the depositories for 
centuries, when all France rejected it, and to trim 
the lamp which had been left alight here, when the 
rest of the land was in darkness. 

The rock on which Dormilleuse stands is 
almost inaccessible, even in the finest months in 
the year. There is but one approach to it, and 
this is difficult, from the rapidity of the ascent, 
and the sliperiness of the path in its narrowest 
part, occasioned by a cascade, which throws itself 
over this path into the abyss below, forming a sheet 
of water between the face of the rock, and the 



DORMILLEUSE. 129 

edge of the precipice. In the winter season it 
must be doubly hazardous, because it then leaves 
an accumulation of ice. Perhaps, of all the habit- 
able spots in Europe, this wretched village is the 
most repulsive. Mature is stern and terrible 
without offering any boon but that of personal 
security from the fury of the oppressor, to invite 
man to make his resting-place here. When the 
sun shines brightest, the side of the mountain 
opposite to Dormilleuse, and on the same level, is 
covered with snow, and the traveller, in search of 
new scenes to gratify his taste for the sublime or 
the beautiful, finds nothing to repay him for his 
pilgrimage, but the satisfaction of planting his foot 
on the soil, which has been hallowed as the asylum 
of Christians, of whom the world w 7 as not worthy. 
The spot which they and their descendants have 
chosen for their last stronghold, is indeed a very 
citadel of strength. 

But the eye wanders in vain for any one point 
of fascination. The village is not built on the 
summit, or on the shelf of a rock, It is not like 
Forsythe's description of Cortona, "a picture 
hung upon a wall." It does not stand forth in 
bold relief, and fling defiance upon the intruder 
as he approaches. It is not even seen, till the 
upper pass is cleared, and then it disappoints ex- 
pectation by its mean disclosure of a few poor 
huts, detached from each other, without any one 
building as an object of attraction, or any strong- 
ly marked feature to give a character to the scene, 
neither is there any view which it commands, to 
make amends for this defect in itself: all is cold, 
forlorn, and cheelress. Thus the eye has no en- 



130 DORMILLEUSE. 

joyment in gazing on this dark waste, but the 
imagination roves with holy transport over wilds, 
which have sheltered the brave and the good from 
the storm of man's oppression, a thousand times 
more to be dreaded than those of the elements. 
Hence the spell thrown over the mind, for it is a 
place of fearful and singular interest. But still, 
great must have been the love which filled the pas- 
tor's bosom, to make him prefer this worse than 
wilderness, this concentration of man's wretched- 
ness, to all the other hamlets of his parish. He 
turned from the inviting Arvieux, and the affec- 
tionate hospitality of San Veran, and the magnifi- 
cent grandeur of Vars, to make his chief residence 
in the bleak and gloomy Dormilleuse, because 
there his services appeared to be most required. 
Because there he had every thing to teach, even to 
the planting of a potatoe. But his whole life was 
a sacrifice ; he lived for nothing else than to be 
useful to his fellow-creatures, and to be a labourer 
in the service of his redeemer. 

An extract from Neff's journal shall make him 
speak for himself. . 

u Sunday : Feb. 1. I preached at Violins. In 
the afternoon I delivered a catechetical lecture, 
and in the evening I performed a service at 
which the inhabitants, who are all Protestants, 
attended ; and so did those of Minsas, who are 
also Protestants. We sung a psalm, and I ex- 
pounded a chapter to them. At ten o'clock most 
of them retired, those who came from the greatest 
distance having brought whisps of straw with 
them, which they lighted to guide them through 
the snow. Some stopped till midnight, we then 



DORMILLEUSE. 131 

took a slight repast, and two of them, who had 
three-quarters of a league to return home, set out 
with pine torches, indifferent to the ice and snow 
which lay on their path. 

" The next day I followed the route to Dormil- 
leuse, with a man belonging to that village, who 
had remained all night at Violins, to accompany 
me. Dormilleuse is the highest village in the 
valley, and is celebrated for the resistance which 
its inhabitants have opposed for more than 600 
years to the Church of Rome. They are of the 
unmixed race of the ancient Waldenses,* and never 
bowed their knee before an idol, even when all 
the Protestants of the valley of Queyras dis- 
sembled their faith. The ruins of the walls and 
forts still remain, which they built to protect them 
against surprise. They owe their preservation in 
part to the nature of the country, which is almost 
inaccessible. It is defended by a natural fortifi- 
cation of glaciers and arid rocks. The population 
of the village consists of 40 families : every one 
Protestant. The aspect of this desert, both terri- 
ble and sublime, which served as the asylum of 
truth, when almost all the world lay in darkness; 
the recollection of the faithful martyrs of old, the 
deep caverns into which they retired to read the 
Bible in secert, and to worship the Father of Light, 
in spirit and in truth, — every thing tends to ele- 
vate my soul, and to inspire it with sentiments 
difficulty to describe. But with what grief do I 
reflect upon the present state of the unhappy de- 

* The Waldenses of Dauphine ; a distinct branch of the 
primitive Church of GauL 



132 DORMILLEUSE. 

scendants of those ancient witnesses to the cruci- 
fied Redeemer I A miserable and degenerate 
race, whose moral and physical aspect reminds 
the Christian, that sin and death are the only true 
inheritance of the children of Adam. Now, you 
can scarcely find one among them who has any 
true knowledge of the Saviour, although they al- 
most all testify the greatest veneration for the holy 
Scriptures. But though they are nothing in 
themselves, let us hope that they are well-beloved 
for their fathers' sakes, and that the Lord will 
once more permit the light of his countenance, 
and the rays of his grace, to shine upon these 
places, which he formerly chose for his sanctuary. 
Many of them have already become sensible of 
their sad condition, and have thanked God for 
sending me among them to stir up the expiring 
flame of their piety. It is some years since Henry 
Laget paid them some visits, and when, in his 
last address, he told them that they would see his 
face no more, ' It seemed,' said they to me, us- 
ing one of those beautiful figures of speech in 
which their patois abounds, ' as if a gust of wind 
had extinguished the torch, which was to light us 
in our passage by night across the precipice.' 
It is strange that although they have been visited 
by several pastors of late years, yet there has been 
no preparation for receiving the young people at 
the Sacrament. I have therefore employed my- 
self in giving the necessary instruction, and have 
taken down a list of all the young persons between 
the ages of 15 and 30. The number of catechu- 
mens amounts already to 80. On Tuesday (Feb. 
3d) I preached in the church of Dormilleuse, and 






DORMILLEUSE. 133 

some of the inhabitants from the lower part of 
the valley attended. The narrow path, by which 
they climb to this village is inundated in the sum- 
mer by magnificent cascades, and in the winter 
the mountain side is a sheet of ice. All the rocks 
also are tapestried with ice. In the morning be- 
fore the sermon, I took some young men with me, 
and we cut steps in the ice with our hatchets, to 
render the passage less dangerous, that our friends 
from the lower hamlets might mount to Dormil- 
leuse with less fear of accident. There was a 
large congregation. In the afternoon I catechiz- 
ed in a stable. Several people from below remain- 
ed all night, and therefore, I took the opportunity 
of pursuing my instructions in the evening, and 
the next day (Wednesday) was spent like Tues- 
day. Thursday morning was devoted to similar 
exercises of instruction and devotion, and then I 
descended towards the lower valley, with about a 
dozen of my elder catechumens, who persisted in 
accompanying me to Minsas, that they might be 
present at the lecture there. At night I took up 
my quarters in Fressiniere, at the house of M. 
Barridon, who is the Receiver of the Commune. 
His eldest son is the only person in my parish, 
whose education gives him a claim to the title of 
monsieur. In garb and exterior he differs nothing 
from the others, and is the very antipodes of a 
petit-maitre : a young man of good sense ; a zeal- 
ous protestant, but Frenchman-like, not yet seri- 
ous enough to answer my views of a Christian. 
The inhabitants of the High Alps, like those of 
the other provinces of France, have very little 
gravity, and though they are more pious than 
12 



134 ARVIEUX. 

others, they are gay and full of humour: so much 
so, that very often a sally of wit, or a bon mot 
will burst out very unseasonably, and excite a 
laugh in the midst of the most serious conversa- 
tion. It is necessary to be on one's guard (which 
naturally I am very little qualified to be,) or to 
be in danger of being disconcerted every moment. 
On Friday I went to Palons, on my return to Val 
Queyras, the first hamlet of the valley, where 
there are only eight Protostant families, but I col- 
lected some catechumens, and others, as soon as 
I could, and gave them a sermon, and afterwards 
catechized them. Palons is more fertile than the 
rest of the valley, and ever produces wine. The 
consequence is, that there is less piety here, there- 
fore I addressed them very seriously upon their 
condition, from the eighth chapter of St. John, ver. 
23, 24. In the evening we assembled together 
again, and I gave them another service. There 
are some young females here, who have an ear, 
and love music. It is always an advantage to a 
minister to find such aid, and experience has 
taught me, that we may hope for some degree of 
success, when we have this help. On Saturday, 
Feb. 7, I set out very early in the morning, to re- 
turn to Arvieux, and arrived there in the course 
of the evening. Such is the history of one of my 
rounds. I shall have to make the same continual- 
ly. It is an affair of twenty-one days. Arvieux, 
where I am expected to take my principal resi- 
dence, is likely to yield a less return than other 
parts of my parish. The inhabitants have more 
traffic, and the mildness of the climate appears 
somehow or other not favourable to the growth of 



NEFP'S ARDUOUS DUTIES. 135 

piety. They are zealous Protestants, and show 
me a thousand attentions, but they are, at present, 
absolutely impenetrable." 

Such is the history, as Neff called it, of his first 
three weeks' labour in his mountain parish. We 
find him. not only preaching, and performing 
public service, in every village petween Dormil- 
leuse and the frontier Alps, where there was a 
church, but gathering the young people about 
him ; classing them, and instructing them in the 
first elements of Christianity ; making lists of 
those who had not yet appeared at the Lord's 
table, and preparing them for that solemn ordi- 
nance: visiting from house to house; putting 
families in a train to pursue devotional exercises 
by themselves ; inspiring them with the love of 
pious conversation and reading; and performing 
all those little offices of kind attention, and pas- 
toral duty, which have the sure effect of endearing 
a parochial clergyman to his flock, by proving 
that he takes a real and an affectionate concern 
in all that interests them. This earnestness in 
" seeking for Christ's sheep that were dispersed 
abroad," through the far scattered hamlets of his 
burthensome charge, and in " using both public 
and private monitions and exhortations, as well to 
the sick as to the whole, within his cure," was 
displayed in the winter season ; and we may un- 
derstand what a winter is in the Alps, from the 
pastor's description of his journey to San Veran, 
through the snow storm, and of his employing a 
party of village pioneers, himself working at their 
head, to cleave a passage through the ice for 
those who had to clamber up the rock of Dormil- 



136 THE HOPE REALIZED. 

leuse. Four times too, in these twenty- one days- 
did Neff encounter the pass of the Guil, an un- 
dertaking more serious than braving the snow 
storm, or the icy slope of a mountain, and there 
was but one accessible quarter of the section which 
he did not visit, — La Grave. He was entirely 
cut off from Champsaur, for there is no means of 
crossing the mountain of Orciere in the winter 
months. 

We shall see that Neff did not relax in his ef- 
forts, and that the remainder of his ministry was 
a repetition of, or an improvement upon his first 
exertions, in the great work of winning souls. 
And here I cannot but call to mind, and lay be- 
fore my readers the expression of a prophetic 
hope, recorded a century and a half ago, and 
when all was dark and threatening, that the Al- 
mighty would be pleased to remove the cloud 
which then hung over this reigion. 

" And it is my hope after all," said Allix, at 
the end of his remarks on the ancient Churches 
of the South of France, " that as God hath illus- 
triously displayed the care of his providence in 
raising the Church of Piemont from those ruins, 
under which the spirit of persecution thought for 
ever to have buried it, so he will be pleased to 
vouchsafe the same protection to those desolate 
flocks, whom the violence of the Romish party 
hath constrained to dissemble their faith, by mak- 
ing a show of embracing the Roman religion to 
avoid the extremities of their persecution." This 
hope has been realized, and Dormilleuse has been 
made a pillar in the temple of our God, round 
which the scattered of the Lord have gathered. 



PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN FRANCE. 



137 



Those timid families, too, in Val Queyras, which 
have had a little strength, and have kept God's 
word in secret, have been blessed, by being kept 
from the hour of temptation. 

Note. — State of the Protestant Churches in France, ex- 
tracted from Soulier's Statistique of 1828. 





m 








£bD 




O 








c& fl - 


DEPARTMENTS. 


U 

o 

in 
'm 

o 
O 


m 

c 

CO 




12 ° 

P o 
^02 


Element 

& Boardi 

Schools 


Aisne, Seine et Marne . . 




5 


17 


7 


7 


Hautes-Alpes 




3 


15 








Ardeche 




18 


17 


1 


9 


Aveyron 




4 


7 


3 


5 


Arrie>e 




6 


12 


3 


8 


Bouches-du-Rhone .... 




3 


4 





4 


CJalvados et Orne .... 




3 


5 








Charente 




2 


3 


1 


1 


Cha,rente-Inferieure . . . 


3 


10 


28 


3 


9 


Dordogne .* 


2 


6 


13 


3 


4 


Drome 


5 


23 


32 





24 


Gard 


17 


64 


75 


23 


110 


Haute-Garonne .... 


1 


4 


4 


2 


4 


Gironde 


3 


9 


13 





13 


Herault . . . . ^ . . 


4 


12 


16 


1 


15 


Isere ........ 


1 


3 


7 


1 


15 


Haute-Loire 


1 


3 


4 





1 


Loire-Inferieure et Vendee . 


1 


3 


9 





1 


Lot-et-Garonne .... 


5 


11 


21 


4 


16 


Lozere . 


5 


13 


8 


3 


17 


Basses Pyrenees «. ,. . . 


1 


5 


8 





4 


Bas-Rhin ........ 


2 


15 


23 


4 


23 


Haut-Rhin 


1 


10 


7 





26 


Rhone 


1 


2 


2 


1 


3 


Carried over 


65 | 


237 


350 


60 


329 


12* 













138 



PROTESTANT CUHRCHES IN FRANCE. 



DEPARTMENTS. 



m 



>*& 



mm 



Seine . . 
Seine-Inferieure 
Deux-Sevres 
Tarn . . . . 
Tarn-et- Garonne 
Vaucluse . . . 
Vienne . . . 



Brought over 



DEPARTEMENS REUNIS. 

Loiret, Cher, Loir-et-Ch. ) 
Eure-et-L .... J 
Nord, Pas de Calais . . . 
Moselle, Neurthe .... 
Doubs 

ORATOIRES ANCIENS. 

Ardennes 

Gers 

Somme 

Ain 

OEATOIRES RECEMMENT 
ETABLIS. 

Bouches-du-Rhone . . . 

Oise 

Gironde 

Vosges 

Puy-de-D6me 

Seine-et-Oise 

C6te-d'-Or 

Total 



•237 
4 
7 
9 
13 
8 
3 
2 



350 
3 

17 

7 
18 
2 
7 




96 303 438 



60 
3 
2 

3 

3 




78 I 392 



PROTESTANT CHURCHES IN FRANCE. 139 

It will be seen from this statement, that the number of 
pastors in the French Established Protestant Church in 
1828, was only 303, less by one half than the number in 
the very worst times, betwen the massacre of St. Barthol- 
omew, and the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. 

A statistique of the number of Roman Catholic Clergy, 
published by authority in 1829, renders an account of 
more than 30.000 of that order. 



t 



k 



CHAPTER V. 



Neff organizes Reunions, or Prayer-meeting's — His opin- 
ion of the necessity of such meetings — Neff's last ex- 
hortation to his flock on the subject — His exhortations 
examined — An inquiry into the effects and utility of 
Prayer-meetings — The sentiments of Thomas Scott not 
in favour of them — Those of Bishop Heber the same — 
Observations on Family Worship. 

In whatever part of his parish* Neff was plying his 
ministerial work, whether it was in the commune 
of Ariveux, or in that of Molines and San Veran, 
or in the cheerless vicinity of Bormilleuse, there 
was one object which he kept steadily in view, 
— to promote associations, (reunions) among his 
flock, for purposes of mutual improvement in de- 
votional exercises, that is to say, in reading the 
Bible, in the practice of sacred music, in pious 
conversation, in joint prayer, and in all other 
things which answer to the apostolical admoni- 
tion, " Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and 
edify one another, even as also ye do."f He was 

* I used the word parish, in the ancient ecclesiastical 
sense of the term, signifying the particular charge of a 
minister of God. I have already explained that Neff's 
charge extended over many communes, or parishes, in the 
civil acceptation of the word, and in each commune there 
were several villages and hamlets. 

1 1 These, v. 11. 



REUNIONS. 141 

so persuaded in his own mind, not only of the 
expediency, but of the absolute necessity of this 
practice, that I find him expressing himself thus 
emphatically in one of his Journals. " I am con- 
firmed in the opinion, that whosoever, even were 
he an angel, should neglect such meetings, under 
any pretext whatever, is very little to be depended 
on, and cannot be reckoned among the sheep of 
Christ's fold. It is to be wished that the faithful 
would never forget the 133d Psalm, or that prom- 
ise of our Saviour, ' Where two or three are met 
together in my name, there I will be in the midst 
of them.' " 

It is impossible not to respect the opinions of 
such a man as Neff, but here I think he has de- 
parted from his usual discreet and cautious rules, 
and has stretched the point much too far. That 
there may be el considerable degree of good re- 
sulting from such meetings, when they are pru- 
dently conducted, is aitruth which will be readi- 
ly conceded, but it is doubtful, whether meetings 
of the kind are likely to be soberly directed in 
most cases, and therefore to insist, that there can 
be no firm and steady religious principle without 
their aid, is an unguarded assumption. Many 
sound and single minded Christians have seen 
reason to doubt, whether there be not some risk 
in promoting such meetings, as those which Neff 
commended so highly, even when they are vigil- 
antly superintended by an experienced pastor, and 
much more so, when the pastor is not at hand to 
direct them. In the destitute region where Neff 's 
own lot was cast, the want of regular spiritual in- 
struction might render many expedients absolute- 



REUNIONS. 

ly necessary, which would be questionable in oth- 
er parts ; and of the two evils, — shall the scatter- 
ed members of a mountain church be left without 
any provision to quicken their devotion, and in- 
crease their religious knowledge, during the ab- 
sence of their appointed guide, or shall they be 
advised to have recourse to a practise which may 
lead to error, or to extravagant transports of over- 
heated and ill directed piety ; — perhaps that is 
the least, where the mischief is only contingent. 
Without helps of some kind, the piety of a flock, 
left without a shepherd, must decline; but it is no 
more than conjectural that it will run wild under 
imperfect guidance. NerT never fofrhd reason to 
make any change in his own sentiments on this 
subject 5 on the contrary, to the last riour of his 
life, he attached the greatest ij»^#anjpe to the 
practise of holding sujbh assemLB^^B IllHl this 
world and all its hopes^^^q^BB^M ejudices 
and its predilections were rapidly passing away 
from him, and he felt that his end was drawing 
near, he addressed a farewell letter to his beloved 
Alpines, in which he*most solemnly recommeVided 
them to preserve in the system. I transcribe the 
whole of the passa jffi.lt will expJjpiKiis meth- 
od and his reasons. ■ 

" I exhort you most particularly, not to neglect 
the assembling yourselves together. I do not mean 
by this to recommend those assemblies only, where 
one speaks, and all the others listen : these, doubt- 
less, where the Gospel is faithfully preached, are 
so greatly blessed, and are such powerful means 
of awakening and confirming souls, that you 
ought not to require any admoniton touching them. 



REUNIONS. 143 

But this service is not enough for the Christian, 
nor is it that which is described and enjoined in 
those passages, 1 Cor. xii. 5 — 12, 22, 28. xiv. 23, 
24, 26, 27, 31, &c. The assemblies, of which I 
now desire to speak, are those, where all may ex- 
hort, and where all are edified ; where each may 
communicate to his brethren his own sentiments, 
and the illumination and the grace which he has 
received from God ; in a word, where each gives 
and takes, teaches and learns in turn. These are 
the only assemblies which can strictly be called 
mutual : itJLggJje^e that there is a communion be- 
tween brethren, and that God has promised to give 
his blessing,*" Psalm exxxiii. I repeat to you, 
then, my dear friends, take care to encourage such 
assemblies among you : and let them consist sev- 
erally, asJraL^j^they canTof every age and of 
each sex, tl IhB^ mav jKnore simple, more 
unreserved, and more confiding. He who goes 
to an assembly only when, a stranger, or one of 
more than common eloquence makes his appear- 
ance there, and who neglects the duty, when none 
but the humble and the simple attend, cannot be 
said tco ^yy^r ituaUy-minded^ You would then, 
indeed, be an assembly where the Lord would be 
in the midst c^kgu, if each of you would bring 
with you a spirit of prayer and meditation, and 
your assembly would he as abundantly blessed as 
that of the first disciples was, when they met to- 
gether in an upper room on that day of the out- 
pouriug of the Holy Spirit, and on that other day, 
when the Apostles returned from the council, re- 
joicing that they had been permitted to suffer 
for the name of Jesus Christ, Acts iv." 



144 REMARKS ON NEFF'S EXHORTATION. 

I have not introduced many discussions in in- 
terruption of a narrative, which is meant to be a 
simple relation of the practical good, done by a 
good man ; nor would I willingly pass censure 
upon any of Neff's proceedings, or opinions, be- 
cause the general tenor of his ministerial career 
was so unexceptionable, and so wonderfully ben- 
eficial, that I should be inclined to doubt my own 
judgment when opposed to his. But in the case 
now before us, I have no hesitation in saying, af- 
ter much reflection, that his reasoning is defective. 
The quotations, which he adduce^j^he passage 
above cited, are by no means happily chosen. 
Those from the second and fourth chapters of 
Acts, do not apply to the case in point, and the 
others, from the twelth and fourteenth of 1st Cor- 
inthians, admit of a construction very little to his 
purpose. The gifts of God, and the manifesta- 
tions of the Spirit, there mentioned, were distinct 
from the ordinary,) operations of grace, and they 
were enumerated by the apostle as such, not as 
spiritual gifts to be commonly expected in relig- 
ious assemblies, by means of which the possessors 
of them may be .mutually benefited, but as mirac- 
ulous endowments, conferred on a few pre-emi- 
nently, that the Church at large might be edified, 
as occasion should require. The working of mir- 
acles, and the powers of healing, and the talent of 
speaking in an unknown tongue, and of interpret- 
ing unknown tongues, and of discerning spirits, 
are not gifts which Christians are taught to look 
for in the ordinary dispensations of grace. Nor 
can the passage 1 Cor. xii. 28. where it is said 5 
that God first set apostles in the Church, seconda- 



REMARKS ON NEFF's EXHORTATION. 145 

rially prophets,thirdly teachers, after that mira- 
cles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, 
diversities of tongues, be fairly represented as 
giving encouragement to assemblies, where there 
can be no exercise of authority, and where no 
manifestation of extraordinary powers is likely to 
be displayed. The reproof at the end of this 
chapter, and more particularly the general tone of 
rebuke which pervades the fourteenth chapter of 
the same Epistle, would seem to enjoin the great- 
est caution upon the very subject which NefF ap- 
proached by far too confidently. 

The practice of holding prayer-meetings, or 
assemblies of Christians for mutual edification, 
has been frequently put to the proof, but I have 
heard of very few instances (and those only where 
the organization and proceedings were under the 
most sage control), in which they have not proved 
a temptation and a snare to some of those who 
have been engaged in them, for want of being 
kept under proper and competent management. 
There is a seducive tendency in them, which 
ministers to vanity and fond conceits, and while 
the humble and the diffident are rendered uneasy 
and distrustful of their condition, because they 
cannot take a ready part in the conversation, or 
act of supplication in behalf of the rest, the for- 
ward are puffed up, and indulge in lofty opinions 
of their own attain ments. I remember well, that 
in my visit to Dormilleuse, my companions and 
myself brought away an unfavourable opinion of a 
young man, who represented himself as leader in 
one of these assemblies, and who certainly held 
himself in high estimation above his companions, 
13 



146 THOMAS SCOTT ON FRAYER MEETINGS. 

because of the fluency which he had acquired. 
Whether it was simplicity, or forwardness, Jhe 
made no hesitation in telling us, that the prayer- 
meetings could not be maintained without him. 

A clergyman of our own church, whose name, 
in many places, is one of no small authority, the 
late Thomas Scott, was once the curate of a parish 
where the system had been tried, under the most 
cautious and prudent superintendence, but he 
found himself constrained to refuse giving his 
countenance to it. For modest reasons of his own, 
he did not oppose himself to the practice, in that 
psrish, but he watched its effects, and pronounced 
decidedly upon its inutility. He afterwards went 
so far as to declare, that he thought it very un- 
likely, that prayer-meetings, even under any regu- 
lations, "could be conducted in such a manner 
that the aggregate good would not be counterbal- 
anced, or even overbalanced by positive evil." 
His opinion is of the greater value, because of the 
diffidence with which he offered it, and of the 
reasons he assigned for it. " But I am, I fear, 
prejudiced," said he, " as the evils which arose 
from those meetings at Olney, induced such an 
association of ideas in my mind, as probably nev- 
er can be dissolved. Two or three effects were 
undeniable. 1. They proved hot-beds, on which 
superficial and discreditable preachers were hasti- 
ly raised up, who going forth on the Lord's day 
to neighbouring parishes, intercepted those who 
used to attend Mr. Newton. 2. Men were called 
to pray in public, whose conduct afterwards 
brought a deep disgrace on the Gospel. 3. They 
produced a captious, criticising, self-wise spirit, so 



HEBER ON PRAYER MEETINGS. 147 

that even Mr. Newton himself could seldom please 
them. These things had no small effect in lead- 
ing him to leave Olney. 4. They rendered the 
people so contemptuously indifferent to the wor- 
ship of God at the church, and indeed many of 
them to any public worship in which they did not 
take a part, that I never before or since witnessed 
any thing like it, and this was one of my secret 
reasons for leaving Olney."* 

The necessities of his mountain parish, and its 
deprivation of ministers and regular services, may 
in some degree justify Nefffor proposing an ex- 
pedient of so doubtful a nature, but one who, 
like himself, went forth into a region where the 
harvest was ready, and the labourers few, has left 
his testimony on record, that even in extreme 
cases, we must not resort to measures which are 
liable to abuse. " The effect of them," said Bish- 
op Heber, when consulted upon this subject, " is 
not only often confusion, but what is worse than 
confusion, self-conceit and rivalry : each labour- 
ing to excel his brother in the choice of expres- 
sions, and the earnestness of his address ; and the 
effects of emulation mixing with actions in which, 
of all others, humility and forgetfulness of self are 
necessary. Such too is that warmth of feeling, 
and language derived rather from imitation than 
conviction, which under circumstances which I 
have mentioned, are apt to degenerate into enthu- 
siastic excitement, or irreverent familiarity." 

But whatever may be the doubts of the pious 

* Life of Scott, seventh edition, p . 518. 



148 THE FAMILY REUNION- 






and the reflecting, as to the effects produced by 
prayer-meetings, or by other religious associations 
for mutual edification, composed of persons brought 
together from different families, and subject to the 
emulations of which Heber was apprehensive, or 
to the discreditable admixture, and self-conceited 
forwardness of which Scott complained, there is 
one kind of re-union, or of assembling ourselves 
together, which will admit of no objection, and 
which of all others is most likely to be blessed in 
its consequences ; that of the family circle. This 
may admit within its bosom, a few familiar friends, 
or near and intimate neighbours, whose senti- 
ments are congenial, and whose character, knowl- 
edge, and religious progress are mutually under- 
stood. In such there is always some respect and 
veneration attached to one or more particular in- 
dividuals, some opinion prevailing as to the supe- 
rior piety and intellectual superiority of one of 
the party, which has at the same time a control- 
ling and stimulating influence extremely benefi- 
cial to all present. 

A domestic association, such as I am supposing, 
which combines the advantage of family prayer, 
and edifying reading and conversation, is one of 
the most efficacious means, not only of awaken- 
ing* and establishing religious feeling, but of in- 

* I lately heard of three young clergymen, (and I trust 
there are many such) who are residing in adjoining par- 
ishes near London, and who meet at regular times, to read 
together, and to improve each other, according to the vari- 
ous modes of mutual edification, which open out upon such 
occasions. These, and the like, are meetings together of 
two or three to which the Lord has promised his presence* 



THE FAMILY REUNION. 



149 



creasing religious knowledge. It gives, with the 
Divine assistance, force and permanency to holy 
impressions : it draws out a spirit of self-examin- 
ation, and quickens and directs it: it produces 
habits of religious vigilance : it inspires a taste 
and a preference for devout conversation and re- 
flection. It leads to a communication of thought, 
and to an explanation of doubts, emotions, and 
opinions, and to an interchange of knowledge and 
acquirement, which enriches the whole circle. 
The individuals, composing a family meeting of 
this kind, are too well acquainted with each other's 
foibles and weaknesses, and virtues and talents, 
to venture beyond the bound of good sense, or to 
indulge in emulous or exciting transports, which 
are the bane of prayer-meetings composed of per- 
sons not well known to each other, and the mu- 
tual confessions which the former make, and the 
encouragements which they dispense, are all with- 
in the limits of sober and serious piety. 

13* .1 



CHAPTER VI. 



NefF at Champsaur — His difficulties there — From Champ- 
saur to Val Fressiniere — His Employments from break 
of day to midng-ht — His account of the Consecration of 
the new Church of Violins — -His discussion with a Van- 
dois Pastor — Wretched condition of the Natives of Val 
Fressiniere — An affecting* Incident — NefF institutes as- 
sociations of the Bible and Missionary Societies among 1 
his Alpines — Passag-e of the Col d'Orsiere — Progress of 
his Catechumens at Champsaur — Laments over the lev- 
ity of some of his Flock — Prevents the appointment of 
an unworthy Pastor at Champsaur. 

It has been stated in a former chapter, that NefF 
was not able to include Champsaur, the most 
western quarter of his parish, in his first parochial 
circuit. The direct path to that commune would 
have been over the the Col d'Orsiere from Dor- 
milleuse : but the state of the mountain would not 
permit it, he therefore returned to the valley of 
Queyras ; and there remained, for a few weeks, 
performing the regular services of his vocation. 
But in the middle of March, 1824, his stirring 
spirit would not permit him to remain stationary 
in one quarter of his charge any longer. He re- 
quired constant action, and the excitement of lo- 
comotion, and we find him making his way to 
Champsaur, by the circuitous route ofEmbrun 
and Gap. The whole country was still covered 



CHAMPSAUR. 151 

with snow, and a keen north wind rendered the 
pastor's journey an enterprize of no common dif- 
ficulty, although he followed the high road from 
Mont Dauphin, for there was no avoiding the pass 
of the Guil, and avalanches continually menance 
the traveller in that gloomy defile during the 
snowy season. But to NefFs ardent mind every 
thing was resolvable into good. " Although the 
winter is prolonged," said he to one of his cor- 
respondents, " and its severity is very disagreea- 
ble, yet it is favourable to my work. The peas- 
ants are at leisure to attend my instructions." At 
Champsaur, as at other places, his invariable prac- 
tice was to have morning service and a sermon, 
afternoon catechising, and a familiar evening lec- 
ture or exposition, every Sunday and Thursday 
in the week, and catechizings or expositions eve- 
ry other day. Here he found his flock so intelli- 
gent, that they made as much progress in eight 
days as some did, elsewhere, in two or three 
months ; but it was the march of the understand- 
ing, and not the movement of the softened heart; 
" for alas," said the pastor, making use of one of 
those beautiful images of Scripture, which give a 
peculiar character to the style of his Journals, 
" my words are not those of the Spirit, which can 
change stones into children of Abraham." 

In another place, after remarking that they 
were for the most part more Protestants in name 
than in spirit, he added ; " An elder asked me the 
other day, 'how do the affairs of our religion go 
on at present V ' Very badly,' said I, ' in France.' 
How so,' he rejoined. Because one finds noth- 
ing but lukewarmness and indifference.' 'Oh 



152 CHAMPSAUR. 






that is not what I meant. 5 ' I know very well 
what you mean, but my estimate of what is going 
on well or ill is very different from your's.' " 

He thought that the fertility of the commune 
of Champsaur, and its proximity to the high road 
and to Gap, were great stumbling-blocks ; but 
whenever he was constrained, by the love of the 
truth, to remark upon the defects of any of his 
flock, his gentle and affectionate disposition al- 
ways shone forth in some such apologetic note as 
this. "But notwithstanding their levity and 
worldly-mindedness, they are always attentive 
hearers ; they testify the greatest kindness towards 
me, and press me to repeat my visits as often as 
I can. 55 

From Champsaur, proceeding ever and anon 
in his endless round, Neff went to the valley of 
Fressiniere, and there remained a fortnight. It 
was during this visit to that -secluded district, 
where the inhabitants are centuries behind in all 
the useful arts, as well as in the refinements of 
life, that the hands which were so often spread 
forth to give the apostolical benediction, were 
now employed in the mechanical work of giving 
the last finish to the new church at Violins. 
When the building was completed externally, not 
a soul there, either workmen or others, knew 
how to give the interior the proper air and char- 
acter of a house of worship. To fashion and 
place the pulpit, to plan and arrange the seats, 
and not only to direct and to superintend, but to 
labour with the smiths and the carpenters, so cal- 
led, was the pastor \s occupation, when he could 
spare time from his preaching, and his catechiz- 



MIDNIGHT LABOURS. 153 

ing, and his visiting from hamlet to hamlet, and 
from house to house. Nothing was too much, 
too great, or too little for this citizen of two 
worlds ; this man of God, and servant of ser- 
vants. From break of day to midnight he was 
toiling in one way or other, with unyielding per- 
severance, and as the season had now permitted 
some of his catechumens to return to their labors, 
the young men to their fields, or their slate quar- 
ries, and the young women to their flocks, in the 
few sunny corners, where a thaw had taken place, 
his evening expositions began later, and were ex- 
tended far into the night. The ardour of the 
teacher and his scholars seemed to be equal : 
both stole from their hours of rest : and the long 
glare of blazing pine-wood torches, and the shout- 
ing of voices, directing the footsteps of the timid, 
or of the tottering, often broke the silence and 
the darkness of the night in those wild glens, and 
announced that the pastor's catechumens were 
finding their way home from one hamlet to an- 
other, after the sacred lessons that followed upon 
the manual labours of the day. 

Even the return of summer, which was very 
late, for there was a heavy fall of snow in the 
beginning of June, brought no intermission of 
toil to this indefatigable man. If his journeys 
were less painful they were more frequent ; and 
the perpetual variation in the date of his journals, 
from Pierre-Grosse to Dormilleuse and Champ- 
saur, and from La Grave to Vars, shows that he 
was perpetually on the move, looking after one 
part of his flock, and then another, and never 
resting satisfied unless he was assured, by his own 



154 THE PASTOR'S CIRCUIT. 

observation, that his system was working with 
regularity. The climate meantime was so varia- 
ble, that when the flowers were blooming at 
Guillestre and Palons, not a green bud was to be 
seen at San Veran or Dormilleuse. One day's 
walk, however, would frequently bring him from 
the drifting snows of the mountain side, to the 
enjoyment of rich foliage and verdure in the vale 
of the Durance, and he would then exclaim, in the 
cheerfulness of his heart, " the winter is past, the 
flowers appear on the earth, the fig-tree putteth 
forth her green figs, and the vines, with the ten- 
der grape, give a good smell." 

In August 1824, an event took place, which I 
will relate in the pastor's own words, because 
matters are mixed up with it which cannot be in- 
troduced by any body so well as by himself; and 
because his simple narrative will carry us up to 
the mountains, and into the midst of Alpine life. 
This was the consecration of the new church of 
Violins, in the valley of Fr essiniere — the building 
whose internal arrangement owed all its propriety 
to his taste and judgment, when he acted the part 
of master-workman, and gave it the finishing 
hand. 

Guillestre, *&\ih September*, 1824. 

" I must have mentioned to you, in one of my 

former letters, the intended dedication of the new 

tempie* of Violins, in the valley of Fressiniere. 

* The term temple is used by the Protestants to distin- 
guish their consecrated buildings from the church of the 
Roman Catholics. 



CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH. 155 

A dedication is no common solemnity in France. 
After having had all their temples demolished, and 
being obliged to assemble in secret, and at the 
peril of their lives, in forests, and in caverns, and 
in mountains, and now to behold their sanctuaries 
rebuilt under the sanction, and with the pecuniary 
assistance of the government, is it not natural that 
the Protestants should testify their sense of the 
mercies of Almighty God, and their gratitude to 
the king in the best manner that they are able ? 
We expected, upon this occasion, that M. Blanc, 
pastor of Mens ; M. Bonifas, pastor of Grenoble ; 
M. Best, pastor of La Tour, and moderator of the 
Waldensian Churches of Piemont, with some of 
his colleagues ; and that M. d'Aldebert, president 
of our consistory, would be present to do honour 
to the festival. The sub-prefect of Embrun, al- 
though a Roman Catholic, had promise to assist at 
the ceremony. But of all those who had engaged 
to come, the sub-prefect, and an aged Vaudois 
pastor, were the only personages there * all the 
rest, under some pretext or other, were absent. 
Had it not been for this good old man, who, at 
seventy-three years of age, had not hesitated to 
pass the Alps, and to make a journey of two days 
to be with us, I should have been the only offici- 
ating pastor, and the members of the chuich of 
Fressiniere would have felt themselves sorely 
neglected. The solemnity took place on Sunday, 
the 29th of August. On the previous evening I 
had begun to make the necesssry preparations. 
A bower of oak branches, in full foliage, decora- 
ted and shaded the front of the building, and pro- 
tected those who could not find room inside, from 



156 CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH. 

the heat of the sun. Many strangers had arrived 
on the morning of the day before, and among the 
rest our friend Ferdinand Martin, of Champsaur, 
with his uncle and several others of that com- 
mune. Late in the evening came the venerable 
Vaudois pastor, accompanied by the two brothers 
and uncle of our friend Blanc, and other laymen 
from the valleys of Piemont. My flock were 
sadly disappointed at not seeing the Moderator 
Bert, and the President D'Aldebert, for whom we 
waited a long time in vain. Early on Sunday the 
temple was filled with people from all the neigh- 
bouring valleys, Roman Catholics as well as Pro- 
testants. I ascended the pulpit at nine o'clock, 
and began with a preparatory service or form of 
prayer. I then exponded some verses of the 
eighth chapter of the Epistle to the Hebrews, and 
drew a parallel between the two covenants, the 
old and the new. After this service the sub-pre- 
fect arrived, and as there was no appearance of 
the president, I requested the Vaudois pastorg to 
perform the ceremony of dedication. It was a 
compliment due to his age. He ascended the pul- 
pit, and preached from Jeremiah vii. 4-7. c Trust 
ye not in lying words, saying, the temple of the 
Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the 
Lord, are these. For if ye thoroughly amend 
your ways and your doings ; if ye thoroughly ex- 
ecute judgment between a man and his neighbour ; 
if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and 
the widow, and shed not innocent blood in this 
place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt ; 
then will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the 
land that I gave to your fathers, for ever and ever." 



CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH. 



157 



Old as he is, the Waldensian minister preached 
with all the ease and force of a young man. Af- 
ter the sermon, I delivered the prayer of benedic- 
tion, and the Lord assisted me therein, — and I felt 
that I was asking for those things for which we 
ought to ask. This ended, the Vaudois pastor 
read some verses of his own composition to the 
congregation, which were exceedingly touching, 
by the recollections which they called up. The 
service concluded with a psalm, and the apostolic 
benediction. We then left the temple, and took 
■our dinner in company with the sub-prefect, who 
was anxious to return to Embrun that evening. 
This magistrate is very amiable and frank in his 
manneis, and has thereby acquired great popular- 
ity. He shook hands with all, even with the 
humblest mountaineer ; talked patois, and replied 
with great good-humour and wit, to the compli- 
ments which were paid him. He is an excellent 
botanist, and he takes great interest in the com- 
mune of Fressiniere which "he frequently visits to 
inspect a flock of Thibet goats which belong to 
the king, and are kept here. Perhaps it will be 
useful to me to have made his acquaintance upon 
this occasion. 

" After dinner which was soon despatched, the 
prefect took his leave, and we returned to the 
temple, where Ferdinand Martin had been con- 
ducting some Psalmody. I learnt afterwards, 
that while we were at dinner, he had addressed 
those Who were in the tent, near the door of the 
temple, on the salvation which is through Jesus 
Christ, and he did this in the hearing of so many, 
that it was mentioned to me afterwards by several 
14 



158 CONSECRATION OF NEW CHURCH. 



;ted 
Lree 



persons in the different valleys. Having expeete* 
like every body else, that we should have three 
presidents of consistory, I never supposed that I 
should have to preach at all this day, much less 
twice, and therefore I was by no means prepared, 
although I have been in the habit, of preaching ex- 
tempore. But no doubt it was the will of God that 
this large assembly should hear the Gospel of 
Truth delivered with simplicity, and without any 
turning aside from it. I preached therefore from 
Hebrews viii. 2. i A minister of the sanctuary, 
and of the true tabernacle, which the Lord pitched, 
and not man. 5 In my exordium I defined the 
material Church made with hands, both according 
to the old and the new covenant, and I anticipated 
that which I did not wish to dwell upon in the 
body of my discourse. After this, I divided my 
sermon into three heads : — 1. Christ is the min- 
ister of the heavenly sanctuary, into which he is 
entered, as the priest and the victim. 2. The 
Church militant and triumphant is called a temple 
holy unto the Lord. 3. Our hearts are called the 
temples of the Holy Spirit. In discussing the sec- 
ond head, the Lord put into my mouth some hap- 
py and important expressions, as to what is the 
Church, and the end of each division, particularly 
of the last, I took the opportunity of addressing a 
pressing invitation to my hearers to receive the 
proffered grace of Christ, and to go to him. 

" After the third and last service, there was an 
ample repast for the principal members -of the 
Church, and for the strangers who came fiom a 
distance. I sat down to table with the rest, and 
then we went down the valley to Fressiniere, with 



DISCUSSION WITH A VAUDOIS PASTOR. 159 

M. Marchand, and all the Vaudois, to the house 
of M. Barridon, the receiver. Our friends from 
Champsaur, with some others, remained at Violins, 
and in the evening they returned to the temple, 
with the people of the village, to sing Psalms. 
Ferdinand offered up a prayer and they remained 
in the performance of their devotional exercises 
till ten o'clock at night. The next day the 
Champsaur people returned home by the Col d'Or- 
siere. 

" Here I must not omit to tell you of a discus- 
sion, which arose between the Vaudois, pastor and 
myself, on the Saturday evening before the dedi- 
cation of the temple. He was praising Protestants 
most lavishly, and especially the Vaudois, whom 
he exalted to the very skies in comparison with the 
Roman Catholics. I ventured to make some ob- 
servations on the danger of flattering people, and 
the little good which arises from elevating them 
above their adversaries ; and I reminded him of 
the admonition of our Lord, c that we had better 
first cast the beam out of our own eye.' Mr. — 
retorted, and displayed at once the fallacy of his 
principles. I felt myself awkwardly situated ; on 
the one hand, it was scarcely decent to enter into 
a controversy publicly, (for a great many persons 
were present,) with a respectable old man, who had 
been so kind as to come from a great distance for 
our sakes : and on the other hand, I could not 
suffer error to prevail, and to withold my testimo- 
ny from the truth. I therefore tried to express 
myself with mildness and frankness at the same 
time, and in fact, the old man was the only one 
who put himself in a passion.— -(I decline inser- 



160 DISCUSSION WITH A VAUDOIS PASTOR. 

ting the particulars of the controversy, because 
they are not entirely creditable to the aged pastor, 
who is still alive , and whose sentiments may have 
been understood by NerT.) — After the discussion 
had lasted a long time, he rose up in anger and 
left the room. But as I was unwilling that this 
dispute should become a subject of scandal to the 
weak, and throw a cloud over the festival, I follow- 
ed him to the door of the apartment, and wished 
him good night. Touched by those advances of 
mine, and perceiving that he was wrong to mani- 
fest any signs of displeasure, he embraced me af- 
fectionately, and exclaimed, l my dear friend, I ad- 
mire your principles, but entertain a better opinion 

of *. 5 I laughed, and promised to do so, on 

condition that he would say no more about them. 
We then separated for the evening, without any 
ill humour, to the great satisfaction of all who 
were present. From that time to his departure 7 
no other altercation took place between us. I en- 
deavoured to treat him with eveiy mark of respect, 
and, on taking his leave, he pressed me, with great 
sincerity, to pay him a visit in his native val- 
leysf." 

After the dedication of the new temple of Vio- 
lins, on the 29th of August, NerT spent the whole 
of September in visiting first one hamlet and then 
another, going from house to house, in the faithful 
discharge of his functions. There was no one 
corner of his parish which he did not inspect, in 

* Two French authors, whose names were frequently men- 
tioned during the discussion. 
t See note at the end of this chapter. 



THE PASTOR ? S CIRCUIT. " 161 

the course of this month,from San Veran to Champ- 
saur, and from La Grave to Vars. Several of the 
villages were visited twice during this interval. 
But September, which is so delicious, a month in 
most countries under the same latitude, wore the 
garb of premature winter in many of the hamlets 
whither this good shepherd directed his. steps, in 
search of the scattered sheep of his flock. It was 
not in Val Fressiniere, as in more favoured lands, 
that autumn gave to the declining year a rich and 
mellow glory. Few of the balmy airs of the south 
of France breathe there at any time. Either a 
fierce and a suffocating heat prevails, which makes 
the narrow glens feel like a fiery oven, or a rush- 
ing blast, that shivers the rocks, and uproots the 
fir, and threatens to make the fugitives' last retreat 
still more desolate and comfortless. Even in the 
height of summer, when vegetation is most rich 
and fresh, there is so little of it here, that the arid 
rock, and the grim and blackening sides of the 
mountain, rivet the eye, and give the sombre 
sadness, not to say, deadness, to the landscape, 
which makes one even prefer the season of frost 
and snow, as being more congenial to the re- 
gion. 

On the 9th of September Neff crossed the Col 
d'Orsiere, under a fall of snow, such he re- 
marked in his Diary, as is never known in his na- 
tive land, (Geneva,) but in the depth of winter. 
At Dormilleuse, the peasants were driven from 
their field works by the severity of the weather, 
and when he descended to Minsas, the dreary as- 
pect of that hamlet, lying deep in snow, wrung 
from him many S3 r mpathetic expressions of com- 
14* 



162 MINSAS. 

passion, which are recorded in the pages of his 
Journal. It was the wretchedness of these poor 
mountaineers, in the three highest villages of Val 
Fressiniere, which induced him to devote more of 
his time to them, than to any other quarter of his 
parish : seeing them deprived of almost every tem- 
poral enjoyment,he determined to give them all the 
spiritual comfort that he could impart. " Their 
village, (speaking of one of these three, Minsas,) 
is squeezed up in the very narrowest gorge of 
the valley, and is now buried in snow, without the 
hope of seeing the sun during the rest of the winter. 
The houses are low, dark, and dirty ; and the 
people themselves seem to be stupifled with the 
utter misery of their condition." And yet it was 
in this forlorn place, that one of the two brothers, 
Besson whom he describes, as having displayed 
great anxiety to know more of the way of salva- 
tion, but whose understanding and attainments 
were of an ordinary scale, and who stammered in 
his speech, addressed the following mournful con- 
fession to him, in the rich patois of his valley. 
" You have come among us, like a woman who 
attempts to kindle a fire with green wood. She 
exhausts her breath in blowing it, to keep alive 
the little flame, but the moment she quits it, it is 
instantly extinguished." 

In another place, he writes thus of the tempo- 
ral and spiritual condition of Dormilleuse and 
Minsas. " { The wilderness and the solitary place 
shall be glad, and the desert shall rejoice and 
blossom as the rose.' This dreary and savage 
valley seems to have realized an accomplishment 
of the prophecy. Desiring to have the inhabitants 



MINSAS. 163 

supplied with some good sermons for their use, 
on those Sundays when I could not perform the 
puplic service in their valley, I sent to Paris for 
some copies of Nardin's Sermons, but when they 
arrived, I was afraid that the price, fifteen francs 
the four volumes, would stand in the way of 
their sale. At first they were received coldly, 
but when I had read a few of the sermons, every 
body was anxious to know more of them. I pro- 
posed that four families should join in the pur- 
chase of one set, and offered to wait their own time 
for the payment. This was caught at with avidi- 
ty, and the books were soon disposed of, and a 
fresh packet ordered. At. Minsas, the Bessons 
having bought two volumes, were anxious to pur- 
chase the other two, but though they are the 
wealthiest in the hamlet, they had no more spare 
money left. i Have we not laid by some francs to 
buy a pig V said one of the sons ; £ Let us give 
up the pig, and get the books.' All the rest ac- 
quiesced, and they completed their set. At Dorm- 
illeuse I witnessed similar instances of self-denial. 
One young man said, { I will devote all my earn- 
ings in the slate quarries to the purchase of Nar- 
din.' Another said, ' In the spring I will go into 
Provence, in search of work. I shall raise twen- 
ty-four francs, and will apply part of the money 
to the acquisition of the books. 5 Others deter- 
mined to go without salt, and to devote, the pur- 
chase money to the sermons. The services, both 
public and private are attended better and better. 
Their neighbours observe a manifest change in 
their manners. At Minsas in particular, the least 
civilized and most wretched hamlet in the valley, 



164 AN AFFECTING INCIDENT. 

the improvement is so striking, that it may literal- 
ly be said of them, ' The last shall be first. 5 " 

During my rambles in the valley of Fressiniere, 
I saw some of the identical copies of Nardin's 
Sermons, which were thus purchased at the cost 
of personal comforts, and the reader may judge 
with what feelings I turned over their pages, and 
fixed my eyes upon their owners. 

An affecting incident which took place one Sun- 
day, displays the character of these simple people 
to the greatest advantage. Neff had been per- 
forming three services in the church of Dormille- 
use, to a congregation which filled the little sanc- 
tuary, and he was afterwards proceeding towards 
Romas, the upper part of this mountain village, 
followed by many of the inhabitants of that quar- 
ter, who had been among his hearers. Suddenly 
they were alarmed by some loud cries behind 
them. These were occasioned by the sudden ill- 
ness of a young woman of the party, who was 
stretched upon the ground, without any signs of 
life. In fact, the vital spark had fled, and thus a 
young person of twenty-six years of age, of a 
robust frame, who had been present at the three 
services in the course of the day, and who had 
been joining in the psalmody, with great anima- 
tion but a few minutes before, was now carried 
home a breathless corpse. The consternation of 
her parents was extreme, for she had been the 
only strong and healthy member of the family, 
and the principal support of it ; but they bore 
their loss without a murmur, and what they most 
lamented, was the suddenness of her death, with- 
out having time to commend her soul to God. 



AN AFFECTING INCIDENT. 165 

The poor mother, in particular, testified the ut- 
most submission to the blow, although she had 
three children nearly blind, and her husband was 
feeble and in bad health. During the two nights 
that the corpse remained unburied, the house 
was filled with people, who came to offer their 
condolence, and especially with young women. 
Neff embraced the opportunity of reading appro- 
priate passages of Scripture, and of pouring in 
such consolations and admonitions, as were most 
applicable, and exhorted them to watch and pray, 
and to keep themselves in readiness against the 
coming of the Lord. When the time came for 
placing the corpse on the bier, the unhappy moth- 
er repeated aloud a prayer in French, for the dying, 
and then all of a sudden she burst out in patois — 
" Alas ! my poor child had not time to utter these 
words. Death has seized her, as the eagle snatch- 
es up the lamb, as the rock which falls and crush- 
es the timid kid of the chamois ; oh ! my dear 
Mary, the Lord has taken thee at the gate of his 
temple. Thy last thoughts were therefore, we 
hope, directed towards him. Oh ! may he have 
made thy peace before the throne of God, and re- 
ceived thee in paradise I" All the inhabitants of 
Dormilleuse attended the melancholy procession 
to the grove, and their pastor read the ninetieth 
Psalm, as the earth closed upon the coffin, and then 
delivered an address, which the mourners are not 
likely to forget. 

In several of his Journals, NefF, speaks of the 
extreme poverty of the people, but poor as the dis- 
trict was the pastor was successful in raising some 
small contributions in aid of religious societies. 



166 NEFF INSTITUTES A BIBLE SOCIETY. 

His good sense, and, right feeling would not allow 
him to squeeze out the widow's mite, or weekly or 
monthly penny from the father of a family, in 
cases where it could ill be spared, but he under- 
stood the value of sympathetic concern in the re- 
ligious condition of others, and therefore encourag- 
ed, where he could consistently, the interest which 
any of his flock might be inclined to take in the 
spiritual wants of their countrymen, and of others, 
who stood in need of that Gospel, whose light 
warmed their own hearts. The sum raised was 
very small, but Neff had the gratification to inform 
the committees of the Bible Society, and of the 
Missionary Society, that such feeble support as 
they could render to the cause, was cheerfully 
proffered by the shepherds and goat-herds of the 
High Alps. 

The following account, transcribed from one 
of the reports of the Continental Society, of which 
Neff was an agent, is his own relation of the man- 
ner in which he established an association of the 
Bible Society ; and annexed to this account, is a 
detail of some of his proceedings at Champsaur, 
which may very properly be introduced in this 
place. 

" I left off in my last, I believe, at the joyful 
epoch of the revival here ; but I think I have not 
spoken of the Bible Society, which was formed at 
the same time. In concert with Mr. B. jun. we 
called together ten of the principal inhabitants of 
the different Protestant hamlets. I explained to 
them, in a few words, the design and progress of 
the Bible Society, and finding them well disposed 
to co-operate, we immediately organized our com- 



NEFF INSTITUTES A BIBLE SOCIETY. 167 

mittee, of which Mr. B. was appointed president. 
On the 5th of April, an account was taken of all 
the copies of the Holy Scriptures ; at the same 
time noticing the demands for them. Before the 
formation of the Society, there were not in all 
the valley twelve Bibles (almost all from Lou- 
vain,) and a very small number of New Testa- 
ments, most of them Father Amelot's edition, and 
all in a very bad state. Since the remittances 
from the London Society, and especially, since 
the formation of that in Paris, half of the fami- 
lies have been provided with Bibles, and almost 
all with New Testaments. Most of these books 
have been paid for at the ordinary price, and have 
reached us through the kindness of Messrs. Lis- 
signol and Laget. Now, almost all those who 
still want Bibles, have set down their names for 
them. We afford them the accommodation of 
paying for them by instalments, which, in the case 
of the poorest, extends to two or three years. In 
these countries we must not speak of weekly sub- 
scriptions for payments of this sort ; the moun- 
taineers scarcely ever touching money, but at the 
time they sell their cattle ; all the rest of the year, 
most of them have not a sol at their disposal. 
Having reduced all this business into the form of 
a report, I addressed it to the president of our con- 
sistory at Orpierre, in order that he might forward 
it to the Paris Bible Society ! but foreseeing that 
this course would take some time, I addressed 
myself directly to the committee for one hundred 
pocket New Testaments, saying, that we impa- 
tiently waited for them, because, as I expressed it 
" the young shepherds of the Alps were languish- 



168 PASSAGE OF THE COL D'ORSIERE. 

ing to be able to furnish their scrip with the bread 
that endureth to eternal life." And now the 
Christian traveller visiting the glacier valley of 
Fressiniere, will see, not without emotion, the 
humble shepherdess seated at the foot of a block 
of granite, and surrounded by her lambs, reading 
with her eyes bathed in tears, the history of the 
Good Shepherd who gave his life for the sheep . 

" On Wednesday, the 6th, I passed the defile 
of Orsiere. Several of my catechumens were my 
guides. Our conversation was veiy edifying. I 
was struck with the Christian reflections, which 
the difficulties of our way, and the savage aspect 
of the glaciers that surrounded us, suggested to 
them. ' How many times,' said one of them, 
'have I braved danger in following the wild goat 
among these precipices ! I spared neither my time 
nor trouble ' I endured cold, hunger, and fatigue ; 
I traversed the most frightful rocks, and exposed 
my life hundreds of times ! Shall I do as much 
for Jesus ? Shall I pursue eternal life with as 
much ardour ? And yet, what comparison is there 
between the two objects P 

" I arrived the same evening at St. Laurent, 
where I immediately held a meeting. I thought 
on coming to Champsaur, to rest a little from the 
fatigues of the preceding week, but by the grace of 
God, I had still enough to do. Our excellent Fer- 
dinand had not relaxed his exertions. I found the 
zeal of the people increased, and their manners 
improved. These people, so worldly, so proud of 
their riches, their strength, or their beauty, are 
not insensible to the voice of the Gospel. Although 
the Protestants are only a small minority, their 



ST. LAURENT. 169 

example, nevertheless, influences the Roman 
Catholics. Dancing has disappeared ; gaming 
and drunkenness, which had passed into a proverb 
among them, have sensibly diminished ; and one 
seldom hears any more of those sanguinary quar- 
rels, once so frequent in this valley. On Thursday 
and Friday I catechised ; I visited the school and 
several families, and held a meeting each evening. 
On Saturday, the day of admitting the catechu- 
mens, I held a meeting in the morning. Several 
of them, the least instructed, live in the neigh- 
bouring mountains among Roman Catholics, and 
have no means for their education, and the dis- 
tance preventing their often repairing to St. Lau- 
rent, they are able to be present only at the cate- 
chising. I addressed them in the dialect of the 
country, in a very simple manner, and endeavour- 
ed to bring near to them the truths of the Gospel. 
They appeared very attentive, so did their parents, 
not less ignorant than themselves, who accom- 
panied them. I afterwards admitted, at the morn- 
ing service, fifty-two catechumens, for the most 
part pretty well instructed, and some of them 
really impressed with divine truth. The afternoon 
was passed mostly in the church, and on account 
of the numbers, we were obliged to hold the meet- 
ing there in the evening. On Sunday, the 10th, 
we had a very numerous meeting at the com- 
munion. Notwithstanding an opening I had got 
made in the ceiling of the church, it was with 
great difficulty that I could breathe. In the 
afternoon, the meeting was, contrary to usual 
custom, almost as numerously attended as in the 
morning, and the upper part of the church was 
15 



170 CHAMPSAUR. 

again almost full. I saw only one Protestant 
playing at bowls. Several of the inhabitants of 
the neighbouring hamlets, who had come for the 
first time to the evening meeting, said, as they 
were returning, c If this man often came hither, 
the public-house keepers would not get rich.' 

" In the midst of all this outward zeal, the truly 
spiritual work goes on slowly ; and I think, that 
excepting Ferdinand, few have become established 
in grace." 

The last observation was forced from the pastor,, 
because he found in the people of Champsaur a 
levity at times which rent his heart. For exam- 
ple, in a family where there were several young- 
people, one of whom had shown symptoms of 
growing piety, he was making some earnest ap- 
peals to their religious feelings, and was imploring 
them to seek God in prayer, when a youth, who 
was a celebrated sportsman, exclaimed, pointing 
to his dog and his gun, " look, these are my 
gods I" Such unpromising signs often led him 
into a train of painful thought, and then he un- 
burthened his mind by committing such mournful 
reflections to paper as these. " Oh ! when will 
the Gospel find in these southern provinces of 
France, such a soil for its reception, as among the 
faithful hearers in Alsace. Even those, who are 
more fit for the work of an evangelist than I am, 
find the same difficulties. The few that seem to 
be awakened, are for the most part languishing 
and irresolute. Lively and trifling, the French 
peasant appears at first to be moved and influenc- 
ed by the word of life, but he soon grows tired of 
it, and he suffers his attention to be distracted. 



CHAMPSAUR. 171 

The most brilliant show of blossoms gives but 
little fruit, and if the fruit ripens, it is but very 
slowly." 

Some transactions, in which Neflf took a very 
decided part, occurred during one of his visits to 
Champsaur, towards the latter end of the year 
1824, which illustrated both his own character, 
and the low state of religion among too many of 
the Protestants of the south of France. Champ- 
saur was served by Neff provisionally, until a 
pastor could be found, who would undertake the 
duties of the commune. A clergyman of very 
indifferent character, whose proffered services had 
been rejected by many of the Protestant sections, 
presented himself as a candidate for the parish of 
Champsuar. The president of the consistory of 
Orpierre, knew that he was an unfit object for the 
charge, but under the influence of that indecis- 
son, which too frequently marks the bearing of 
official persons, who are less the heads than the 
organs of a representative body, he was disposed 
to act against his own better judgment, and to 
yield to the importunity of two members of the 
board, who were personally interested in behalf 
of the unworthy applicant. The discusion lasted 
for several days, and, as is often the case, the 
pertinacity of the minority triumphed over the 
indifference of the majority. They were on the 
eve of gaming their point by dint of out-talking 
the better thinking. Happily, Neff was in the 
neighbourhood at the time, and the president sent 
a message to entreat him to repair to Orpierre 
without loss of time, and to throw his weight in- 
to the right scale. A wild mountain was to be 



172 GHAMPSAUR. 

traversed at the shortest notice in the month of 
December, and some very severe weather had 
affected NefFs health ; but he cheerfully set out 
upon his dreary journey before day -light, to avoid 
the keen north wind, which usually blew at cer- 
tain hours. But rude Boreas was earlier than 
our traveller. He had much difficulty in achiev- 
ing the ascent, and when he arrived at the summit, 
he was so weak, and the wind was so violent, and 
the ridge so slippery with ice and frozen snow, 
that it was an affair of no small danger to proceed. 
He persevered, however, and his presence and 
arguments turned the scale. The undeserving 
candidate was a man of considerable address and 
powers of mind, and at a former period of life, 
before his immoralities unmasked him, had ob- 
tained testimonials from some persons of emi- 
nence, which he now exhibited. Armed with 
these, and supported by the suffrages of those 
who thought more of talent and lively manners 
than sound ministerial usefulness, he would have 
succeeded, if the remonstrances of Neff had not 
shamed the consistory into a decision, which sav- 
ed the flock from one, who would neither have 
" healed that which was sick, nor bound up that 
which was broken, nor sought that which was 
lost." 



Note. — In the summer of 1826, Neff paid a visit to the 
Waldenses of the Valleys of Piemont. He did not bring 
away an opinion entirely favourable to their spiritual con- 
dition. To those who are inclined to pass severe sentence 
upon the Vaudois, because they are not all that they ought 
to be, and who judge of the whole community from a few 



CHAMPSAUR. 173 

degenerate descendants of that noble race of confessors 
and martyrs, I would recommend a perusal of the follow- 
ing' remarks, from the conclusion of Captain Cotton's Let- 
ter, published in the ninth report of the Continental Soci- 
ety : — 

"I should be sorry indeed, if, in informing* the commit- 
tee of what fell under my observation, and of the opinion 
I have thence formed of the state of religion in the val- 
leys, it should in any degree contribute to stop the current 
of charity from England : there is much need of foreign 
assistance. It is of the first necessity that the schoolmas- 
ters should be qualified to instil ideas with the lessons they 
teach the children ; a better pay should be attached to 
their situations in the hamlets, and they should be them- 
selves instructed. It will be very difficult to find spiritu- 
ally-minded men proposing- to themselves the glory of the 
Redeemer, in bringing" little children to believe on him. 
They may, however, be trained to follow a good system, 
and watched over ; and to God must be left the increase. 
Far from me be the desire to weaken the charitable feel- 
ing* existing* with regard to the Vaudois ; they have, on 
many grounds, a claim to our sympathy : for their fathers' 
sake, from whom I believe evangelical light penetrated 
into England ; for the long period in which they were wit- 
nesses for the truth in times of repose as well as of perse- 
cution ; for the manifest favour with which God has re- 
garded them in the most critical circumstances of their 
history ; for their former missionary spirit, their poverty, 
and their civil disabilities. It has been insinuated, that 
the pastors are enemies to the truth ; I witnessed no such 
thing. It does not appear that they took any steps to drive 

Messrs. and from the valleys. They must have 

been denounced for admitting strangers into their pulpits ; 
those two ministers were prevented from preaching any 
longer by an order from government, and consequently 
left the valleys. Their visit was not without some degree 

of fruit : a brother of Mr. , to whom I am indebted 

for an introduction to several pastors, and four or five other 
converts to the faith. They meet occasionally to edify 

each other, at the house of an excellent man, Mr. , a 

retired pastor. If the spirit of true religion is become 
cold, the effects of the religious state of their forefathers 
have not ceased to be visible. The Vaudois are far supe- 

15* 



174 CHAMPSAUR. 

rior in moral character to the Roman Catholic inhabitants; 
they are from ancient habit, honest, civil, and quiet ; and 
from their situation and necessity, simple and laborious : 
it is highly to their credit, that they took no part in the 
late revolution, although emissaries were sent into the 
mountains to seduce them. Should foreign assitance be 
withdrawn, the light still twinkling amid the snows of the 
Alps may expire ; they may not long resist the encroach- 
ments of the Church of Rome, now exerting herself in 
every quarter to bring again the Christian world into the 
same subjection as in ancient times ; whereas, by strength- 
ening the Vaudois church, it may become, in more favour- 
able circumstances, an instrument for enlightening Italy, 
in which country, though now there appears but a few 
gleaning grapes on the uppermost boughs, the fruit there- 
of may, hereafter, shake like Lebanon. 5 ' 



%' 



**' 



CHAPTER VII. 



NefPs method and good understanding* with the Roman 
Catholics — His interview with a Romish priest — A fam- 
ily sketch — The convert of Arvieux — A death-bed scene 
— The Mission — Controversies — Anecdote— The Cure — - 
Palons — The shepherdess Mariette. 

Upon several important occasions, the pastor of 
the High Alps obtained as much influence by the 
sweetness of his temper, as by his firmness, and 
by that kindness of manner which never deserted 
him, however trying might be the juncture, in 
which it was necessary to display it. We have 
seen, that after the discussion with the Vaudois 
minister, who was inclined to take himself away 
in a pet, NerT's conciliatory deportment brought 
him to his good humour, and they parted with 
mutual feelings of respect and good will. It was 
his second nature, if not his original disposition, 
to suffer long and to be kind. His charity never 
failed — it displayed itself in a thousand trifles, so 
much so, that it oftentimes softened the animosity 
of those who had most reason to be jealous of his 
presence. As the Mahomedans and Hindoos 
crowded round Heber in India, to hear his per- 
suasive and mild reasonings, when they would 
have shrunk from angry polemics, so did Roman 
Catholics take delight in listening to NerT's truly 



m 



176 THE ROMISH PRIEST. 



Catholic discourses. The popish clergy lost many 
of their flock during his sojournment in Dau- 
phine, but it was some time before they resented 
his proselyting exertions. When they were in- 
clined to give reins to their displeasure, his meek- 
ness took the sting out of their indignation. He 
never reviled them,or spoke disrespectfully of them 
— on the contrary, he was forward to place even 
their errors in the best light, and whenever he 
found them labouring usefully at their posts, he 
gave them their meed of praise. It once happen- 
ed that he preached at St. Laurent, in Champ- 
saur, on the day of the patron saint, a festival 
which, in general, produces a great deal of disso- 
lute conduct. On that occasion, however, the 
people were more orderly, and there were fewer 
scenes of drunkenness and disorder than usual. 
A note in his Journal observes upon this, and at- 
tributes it as much to the exertions of the cure^ 
as to his own, which were uniformly employed in 
promoting the sanctity of the Sabbath. An inter- 
esting proof of the good footing upon which he 
stood for a long time with the priests of the other 
Church, occurred at Fressiniere in October of the 
year now under notice, 1824. It cannot be bet- 
ter related than in his own words. 

" At Fressiniere a strange adventure awaited 
me. I was invited to sup with the priest, a most 
fanatical and rude sort of person. It is some 
time since that the cure of Chancelas had re- 
quested me to pay him a visit in his own parish, 
which lies on my route. I went there, and we 
passed several hours in serious conversation. He 
afterwards accompanied me across the Durance. 






THE ROMISH PRIEST. 177 

This young man, who is full of good sense, and 
well informed, appeared to have a perfect compre- 
hension of the essential principles of the Gospel, 
and did not depend upon the outward works of 
devotion, or upon the intercession of the saints for 
his acceptance with God, but he was a staunch 
upholder of the sacrifice of the mass, and of the 
hierarchy of the Roman Church. He had pressed 
me very much to renew my visit, but I had not 
seen him again, until the time of which I am 
going to speak. On this day he came to the 
house of M. Barridon with the priest of Fressi- 
niere. The latter is so intolerant, that every 
body in the commune thought that he would 
insult me, if we should ever meet, for he used to 
revile the Protestants, and all that belonged to 
them, in the most unsparing terms, and a hundred 
times he has abused our people in the very gross- 
est language, even at their own doors. I do not 
know what he thought upon seeing me there, but 
as he found that his colleague expressed some 
friendship for me, he could not do otherwise than 
conduct himself civilly ; and the cure of Chan- 
celas having asked me, in his hearing, to visit 
him, he thought he must exercise the same polite- 
ness. He therefore gave M. Barridon and me 
an invitation, and engaged his brother of Chan- 
celas to stay with him till the next day. We 
went to his house, and to our great surprise the 
conversation was quite amicable, although we did 
not abstain from religious topics. The good effect 
of this interview was visible in the intercourse to 
which it led between members of the two com- 
munions. Who would not have been astonished 



178 A FAMILY SKETCH. 



met- 



to see the priest and the pastor discoursing quiet- 
ly together !" 

Many other instances might be seletced from his 
Journals, to show the good understanding which 
long prevailed among the Roman Catholics and 
Protestants in different parts of his parish, where 
Bibles and Testaments were read and distributed 
without interruption. 

At a small hamlet near Arvieux, just below the 
picturesque torrent and the Alpine bridge, which I 
described in a preceding page, there was a family 
consisting of an elder brother, a Protestant, who 
had one son of the same faith ; a second brother, 
his wife and children, Roman Catholics ; and a 
third brother, named James, an old bachelor and a 
Protestant. This family lived together in the 
greatest harmony, and the son of the elder broth- 
er married a daughter of the second. Their un- 
cle James was a remarkably intelligent man, and, 
going about the country as a pedlar, he picked 
up all the old religious books he could lay his 
hands upon, and nobody was better read than he 
in the histories of the reformation, and of the 
popes and councils. He could recite with aston- 
ishing accuracy the dates of councils, and of pa- 
pal bulls and rescripts, and was never so happy as 
when discussing matters of religion. Neff had 
made acquaintance with this man in the course of 
his rambles to Mens and Grenoble, and was so 
pleased with his conversation and his books, that 
he never passed his house, in his way to or from 
the presbytery at La Chalp, without calling upon 
him. This gave him frequent opportunities of 
holding serious discourse with the different mem- 



A FAMILY SKETCH. 179 

bers of the family, and when he spoke to the Pro- 
testant branches of it on the solemn duties incum- 
bent on them, the Roman Catholics never failed 
to listen with marked attention. He prudently- 
displayed no anxiety to convert them 5 but by de- 
grees, the mother and daughter began to enter in- 
to the spirit of his pious and affectionate style of 
conversation, and expressed a desire to know 
more of some of the books which were the fre- 
quent subject of his observations. Two of these 
were the Bible, and a translation of Doddridge's 
Rise and Progress of Religion in the Soul. The 
mother took one of NefT's favourite volumes with 
her to her mountain chalet, where she spent the 
summer with her cattle, and during her solitary 
abode amdist the grandest works of creation, 
where nothing met her eye but objects proclaim- 
ing the immensity and majesty of the Eternal, she 
grew utterly dissatisfied with the limited views of 
Divine love and wisdom, to which she had hith- 
erto been confined, and sighed for the liberty 
werewith Christ could make her free. When she 
returned to her cottage by the torrent side,she made 
a point of inviting her Roman Chatholic friends 
to come in, whenever Neff was likely to be pay- 
ing them a visit, and this went on for some time 
without any interruption or indication of sectarian 
jealousy. In the end, the little family became 
one in faith, as they had ever been one in affec- 
tion, and some of their neighbours of the other 
Church left the ministry of the cure for that of 
the pastor. The conflicts which some of these 
proselytes had with their consciences, before they 
could find peace in Jesus Christ, proved the sin- 



180 THE CONVERT OF ARVIEUX. 

cerity of their conversation. The account which 
Neff gives of one of them is peculiarly interest- 
ing. It explains his method with the Roman 
Catholics, and enables us to take a fearful look 
into that abyss of despair, through which the de- 
vout and sensitive mind has to pass, before it can 
emerge from the darkness of Popery to the clear 
light of Protestantism. 

" You will not have forgotten the name of Ma- 
ria — , a young woman whose serious manner 

I noticed more than a year ago. She is now, like 
the sister of Lazarus, sitting at the feet of Jesus, 
but she has suffered so much before she could reach 
them, that I am afraid the new birth will be at the 
cost of her life. She was brought up a Roman 
Catholic, but having married a protestant, she 
adopted her husband's faith. Not having yet re- 
ceived the sacrament of the Lord's Supper, accor- 
ding to the forms of our Church, I have given her 
the same instructions as my other catechumens, 
and it is astonishing with what facility she has ac- 
quired a knowledge of the subject. But when we 
came to a personal application of the lessons, I 
observed that she was most deeply affected by a 
sense of her condition. During the winter I had 
many opportunities of seeing her, and every time 
I found her more and more cast down. . Her coun- 
tenance expressed great dejection; and she ap- 
peared to be suffering from illness. Her mother 
entreated me to visit her as often as I could. c My 
poor Maria,' said she, c has no comfort but when 
you are here, — at other times she is constantly 
weeping. I tried to have a private interview with 
her, but did not succeed for a long time. One 



THE CONVERT OP ARVIEDX. 181 

day her husband said to me, in tears, ' My poor 
wife will die, I do not know what is the matter 
with her ; she takes no nourishment, and is melt- 
ing away like the snow.' I told him that I hoped 
this sickness was not unto death, but for the glory 
of God, and that he himself, and others, would be 
greatly edified. The same evening Maria appear- 
ed more sad than before, — she retired from us on 
the plea of suffering some internal pain, and her 
mother then told me that she complained of being 
unable to pray ; that it was this which so distress- 
ed her, and that she was anxious to have some 
private conversation with me. This was the very 
thing I wished. 

" { Well, Maria, 5 I began, c what makes you so 
melancholy ? what is the matter. 5 

" 6 1 am lost ! 5 she exclaimed. 

" c No doubt you are lost, and we are all lost by 
nature : but did not Christ come to seek and to 
save that which is lost V 

" £ But it is three years since God first graciously 
imparted to me a sense of my lost condition, I 
was all the winter as ill as I am now. I wished 
for conversion, but I have thrown away the means 
of grace. I have slumbered and slept, like the 
foolish virgins of the parable. My hour is gone 
by, and now my heart is hardened, and God re- 
jects me. God is just, I deserve it !' 

" This was said with all the calmness of despair, 
and I was afraid that the terrible persuasion had 
taken fast hold of her mind. I asked her, wheth- 
er at the first indication of a change in her relig- 
ious sentiments, there had been any body to teach 
her the way of salvation ; for how should you 
16 



182 THE CONVERT OF ARVIEUX. 

find it yourself, said I. Be not afraid, — to-day is 
your hour — hitherto you have never fully knowr 
the Good Shepherd ! 

" After this she seemed to be relieved from the 
apprehension, that she had lost the favourable 
season, but still she was not assured. It was in 
vain that I spoke again and again of God's mercy 
in Jesus Christ. She told me that she could 
neither repent, nor believe, nor pray, as she ought, 
and that when she endeavoured to draw nigh unto 
God, a spirit of blasphemy seemed to come across 
her. I then suggested every consideration that I 
thought would avail her, and affected to regard 
her state as very natural and very common ; I 
prayed with her : still she was not comforted. I 
conjured her, in the most earnest and tender man- 
ner, to persevere in supplications to God, through 
Jesus Christ : and she promised that she would. 

" The next day I spent part of the morning with 
her, and returned several times in the course of 
the days following, but always without success. 
She was incapable of making any bodily exertion ; 
she was suffering physically as well as mentally, 
and literally watered her couch with her tears, al- 
ways complaining of the same thing, of her want 
of proper contrition, and her hardness of heart.* 
One day when I was going to leave her, she cried 
out, i If you depart, I shall die.' I was forced to 
remain near her for some time, before her agita- 
tion was over. She passed three or four months 
in this afflicting condition, and though she has at 

* This was no doubt, owing to her early education, and 
dependance on the works of penance. 



THE CONVERT OF ARVIEUX. 183 

length experienced a sense of the mercy of her 
God ; yet she is still depressed in spirits ; her 
conscience is susceptible and alarmed by the least 
symptom of sin. One day, when some young 
girls were frolicking around her, one of them ex- 
claimed, i Maria, why do not you laugh as we do?' 
She replied, but with great sweetness, £ I prefer 
my sadness to your mirth. 5 She has with diffi- 
culty picked up a little strength, but she is still 
very weak. The soul is consuming the body. I 
have never seen any one so deeply affected, so en- 
lightened, and yet so simple at the same time. A 
younger sister of her's, who, up to this period, 
was a devoted Roman Catholic, but full of levity, 
has now begun to think seriously of her own re- 
sponsibility, and to display an increasing repug- 
nance against the Romish worship. I asked her 
one day, f Do you think that the priest, or the 
pope himself, can give you a dispensation of con- 
version, as he grants you a dispensation to eat 
meat 1 Can he dispense with what is required 
by Jesus Christ, the new birth ? Do not deceive 
yourself, it is written, except a man be born again 
he cannot see the kingdom of God V " 

I am happy to be able to add some information* 
to this affecting account, which Neff's Journals 
do not supply. It pleased the God of hope to fill 

Maria with all joy and peace in believing, 

and at length she abounded in hope, through the 
power of the holy Ghost. In August, 1829, after 
Neff's return to Switzerland, to recruit his shat- 
tered health, he heard of the sudden death of Ma- 

* Collected from " Notice of sur Felix Neff." 



184 THE DEATH BED SCENE. 






ria's mother, who, with her sisters, had become 
sincere converts to the Protestant faith. The pas- 
tor wrote a letter of condolence to the afflicted fam- 
ily, in which he declared that he had rarely ex- 
perienced any grief equal to that which he suffer- 
ed on learning this mournful news. " Thp good 
Madeline, who was so kind in her attentions to 
me, who had so much sympathy for the sorrow of 
others ; who received the servants of the Lord 
with so much joy and love, and who had such 
pleasure in listening to the word of life, am I then 
never to meet her again in this world ! But why 
should I thus wound your heait and my own ? Is 
it for us, the inheritors of an incorruptible and 
heavenly crown, to afflict ourselves, and to be sor- 
ry as men without hope ?" This letter brought 
an answer, written by Maria, assisted by her bro- 
ther, in which she gave the following relation of 
the sufferings and death of her mother, from which 
we gather the consolatory assurance, that the 
pastor's proselyte fell asleep in Jesus, and that her 
children enjoy the peace which passeth under- 
standing. 

" My mother's illness only lasted seven days, 
but it was exceedingly violent. It was an inflam- 
mation of the bowels, attended with a tormenting 
cholic, which never allowed her to have an hour's 
rest during the whole of that time. We saw from 
the first that there was no hope, and talked to her 
of her approaching end. She used to reply to us 
with a smile full of hope and joy. Have you no- 
thing to attach you to earth 7 we asked. No, she 
replied, with a serene air ; all that this world con- 
tains, paseth away ! And have you no fears, at 



A DEATH BED SCENE. 185 

the thought of entering into a new existence, and 
appearing before the Judge Eternal? She joined 
her hands together, and raised her eyes to heav- 
en, and then replied : No, there is nothing to fear, 
Jesus Christ is my atonement and intercessor. I 
rely upon his promises, and therefore I desire to 
depart and to be with Christ !" She often blessed 
God for having sent you to announce the glad 
tidings of redemption through Jesus Christ, and 
invoked the heavenly benediction upon your body 
and soul. When her strength was almost gone, 
she said to us: I cannot pray aloud — pray for me, 
my children ; pray that the Lord may increase 
my faith. She pointed out this verse of an hymn, 
which she asked to have repeated to her. 

Vois l'ame criminelle 

A tes piedsj Dieu Saveur ! 
Daigne jeter sur elle 

TJn regard de faveur. 

" Soon after, she exclaimed, 4 1 know in whom 
I have believed. He is faithful to keep that which 
is committed unto him. I am weak, but He is 
strong.' Upon another occasion, she said to us : 
' My children, do not weep ; offer up your pray- 
ers to the Saviour for comfort, and he will not 
forsake you. I am happy, I shall only precede 
you a little ; you will rejoin me, and we shall 
meet again in the presence of God. 5 At a crisis, 
when her pains were very great, I said to her, 
you are suffering severely, my dear mother. She 
answered, c The sufferings of my Redeemer were 
much greater.' Then you have a firm assurance 
in his promises now, even in the valley of the 
16* 



186 A DEATH BED SCENE. 



j sup- 



shadow of death. ' Yes, Jesus Christ is my 
port. He has swallowed up death in victory.' 
She then made a last effort to join her hands, and 
lifting up her eyes to heaven, she uttered in bro- . 
ken sentences : — { Thy cross, Thy blood, — Thy 
death, Jesus, are — my support !' These, my be- 
loved and respected pastor, were my mother's 
last words. She gave me her two hands, and 
while I was praying aloud, her soul quitted its 
earthly tenement and mounted to heaven. I 
heard nothing around me but weeping and sigh- 
ing ; every thing was sad and mournful, but He 
who is rich in mercy poured out his consolations, 
and helped us to be resigned to his will. For 
myself he has made me feel assured, that my 
dear mother is happy in his bosom, and that I 
shall soon be with her there. Sadness has given 
place to joy. I must tell you, that since my 
mother's death, my father has been more atten- 
tive to the word of God, and thinks more about 
his soul. He listens with pleasure when we tell 
him of the Saviour. He goes with us to the tem- 
ple. Oh ! what a happy day it will be for me. 
if, in losing my mother for a short time, I shall 
obtain my father for eternity. Pray for us that 
it may be so. 

" Your devoted sister in Jesus Christ, 
Maria ." 

The reader will perceive in this simple narra- 
tive of a death-bed scene, not the wild sentiments 
of an enthusiast, but the calm piety of a Christian, 
and he will say, if such were Neff's pupils and 
converts, what must their instructor have been ! 



THE MISSION. 187 

But at length " The Mission" disturbed the 
harmony that had hitherto reigned between the 
Protestants and the Roman Catholics. Some of 
the members of the Mission marshalled ostenta- 
tious processions, preached incendiary sermons, 
and pursued such effectual means of exciting an 
angry and bigoted feeling against the Protestants, 
that many of the Romanists declined holding any 
intercourse with them as heretofore, and even 
crossed themselves whenever they passed a house 
in which Protestants were dwelling. The Mis- 
sion is a name under which a religious movement 
commenced in France in 1819, and continued till 
the revolution of July, 1830, with the sanction 
and assistance of the government, and under the 
direction of ecclesiastics and others, who formed 
themselves into a religious order. The persons 
who were employed in the work of reviving the 
spirit of the Roman Catholic religion, were se- 
lected for their zeal and eloquence, and, as they 
went from town to town, and in some parts from 
village to village, instructing and confessing the 
people, it is astonishing what effects were pro- 
duced by the combined influence of example, ex- 
hortation, and authority. They erected colossal 
crosses, beautifully carved and gilt, on conspicu- 
ous spots — they made the circuits of streets and 
hamlets at the head of splendid processions, swel- 
led by priests and^other ecclesiastics gorgeously 
arrayed,* and bearing costly banners, flaunting 

* " And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet 
colour, and decked with gold and precious stones, and 
pearls, having- a golden cup in her hand. And I saw th e 
woman drunken with the blood^of the saints, and with the 
blood of the martyrs of Jesus." — Rev. xvii. 4. 6. 



188 THE MISSION. 

and glittering in the sun, and by such of the pop- 
ulation as caught the infection of their ardour ; 
and the multitude thus composed, made the air 
resound with their penitential psalms, or sighs 
and groans of contrition. At the churches deco- 
rated with tapestry, at favourite shrines expen- 
sively ornamented, and before crucifixes of enor- 
mous magnitude, the procession would halt, and 
some gifted preacher would stand forth and ad- 
dress the congregated thousands, in language best 
calculated to promote the interests of the Romish 
faith. If piety revived under the influence of 
these impressive solemnities, so unhappily did 
fanaticism, and as heresy was frequently branded 
by these peripatetic preachers as something worse 
than infidelity, the lower orders among the pa- 
pists were excited to acts of violence against the 
Protestants, which made some of the latter trem- 
ble for their lives, and anticipate a recurrence of 
former sufferings. The peaceful hamlets, which 
composed NefT's parish, were greatly disturbed 
by the Mission ; some few weak and wavering 
brothers were scared into abjuring the creed of 
their ancestors, who had died martyrs to their 
faith ; and instances were known, not only of 
Roman Catholics being compelled by their priests 
to burn their copies of Scripture, but of Protest- 
ants committing venerable Bibles to the flame, 
under the influence of terror which had escaped 
the worst of times, and had been transmitted to 
them, as the only possession which their fore- 
fathers had been able to preserve, amidst the 
wreck of all their little property. 

What presumption in man, to dare to put a 



THE MISSION. 189 

stop to the free course of God's own word ! Be 
the reason, the sophistry, the pretext what it may, 
which would render the Bible a sealed book, or a 
prohibited book, or a book which is to be read 
under certain limitations, the upshot of the con- 
trol, and the meaning of the authority which so 
presumes is this : — " We desire you to accept our 
creed; believe what we believe. The Bible con- 
tains the exposition of the faith proposed to you, 
we derive all our own knowledge from it. But you 
must not read what we read ; it is inexpedient to 
open to you the fountain from which we derive 
our knowledge. We do not permit you to consult 
those pages indiscriminately, or to read them 
without our guidance and interpretation." What 
an insult to man's understanding ! And yet with 
all this real hostility to the Bible, and practical 
prohibtion of it, some Roman Catholics deny that 
the Bible is prohibited by their Church. Do they 
deny the validity of canons of councils ? What 
will they say to the following ? 

" We forbid any of the laity to have in their 
possession the books of the Old or New Testa- 
ment."* 

In England the Romish priesthood withhold 
these tell-tale prohibitions of their Church, but in 
France, at the period of which I am speaking, the 
Mission openly proclaimed them. 

" Some of our poor Protestants are extiemely 
dejected by these proceedings," complained the 
pastor in his Journal. " They are looking for me in 
some of my villages with great anxiety, for it has 

* Fourteenth canon of the eleventh council of Tholouse 



190 THE MISSlUN. 

been reported that I too have turned Papist." 
They had not to wait long, for no sooner did Neff 
hear that his presence was necessary in any part 
of his parish, than he immediately repaired thither, 
and though all his circuits were performed on 
foot, and in the summer the drought consumed 
him, and in the winter the frost, yet no apprehen- 
sion of fatigue or difficulty ever arrested his steps. 
In consequence of the excitement caused by the 
Mission, he felt it to be his duty to be still more 
vigilant and active. " The Lord," said he, in one 
of his letters from the High Alps. " has permitted 
me to have the unspeakable joy of seeing some of 
the Romish Church awakened, and leaving their 
broken cisterns, to go to*the real fountain of liv- 
ing waters. Not that we have easy access to the 
houses of the Roman Catholics; — a Protestant, 
and especially a minister, finds many impediments 
in the way of declaring the Gospel, for besides the 
prejudices they entertain, it is impossible to enter 
into any religious conversation, but they forthwith 
give it a controversial turn, the result of which is 
rarely satisfactory to either party. In these 
mountains the officiating clergy are young priests, 
exclusive in their notions, and strongly embued 
with the spirit of the Jesuits, in whose seminaries 
they have been educated. The Missions, the ju- 
bilee, and other exciting causes, have successive- 
ly revived fanaticism in a region, which was pre- 
viously too much the scene of intolerance and su- 
perstition." But neither the pastor, nor the more 
enlightened members of his flock, suspended their 
exertions : where the timid shrunk from the open 
avowal of their sentiments, the bold, and such as 



THE MISSION. 191 

were truly anxious for the salvation of others, 
came resolutely forward, and seized every oppor- 
tunity of giving their testimony to the truth, in 
the house. — by the way-side, — and even in the 
presence of the Roman Catholic priests. Their 
appeals came with all the force of sound sense, and 
were irresistibly supported by their ready quota- 
tion of Scripture. In Champsaur, the Protestants 
were greatly in the minority, as far as numbers 
were concerned, but there were two or three stur- 
dy champions of the cause, who were a host of 
themselves ; and fortunately the cure there, though 
he was a most bigoted Papist, had not fortified 
himself with any polemical weapons, either from 
reason or Scripture, which were a match for the 
offensive and defensive armour of his adversaries. 
One day, when this cure ventured to ask a Pro- 
testant, "Upon what do you build your belief, since 
you have no authority for your faith V ? 

" Upon the Bible, 55 was the reply : " if the apos- 
tles had left behind them any infallible successors, 
it would have been unnecessary to bequeath, to 
us so many instructions in writing ! 55 

" The apostles ! and why are you to place great 
reliance on the apostles, than on their successors ? 55 

Because the apostles were inspired bv the Holy 
Ghost. 55 

" Well : and we too are inspired I 5 ' 

" Are you inspired ? 55 

" Yes ! 1 repeat, we too are inspired ! 55 

" Then why do you require to be further in 
structed in the college of the Jesuits ?" 

The priest was routed. 

Upon another occasion, when a young woman 



192 CONTROVERSIES. 

of the valley of Queyras was questioned by a 
Romish priest, upon the object of her faith and 
hope, and when she constantly made the same 
reply, and reverently named Jesus Christ, as the 
ground of her faith and hope, the cure exclaimed 
impatiently, " Jesus Christ ! It is always Jesus 
Christ ! do you think, then, that Jesus Christ is 
every thing to you V* 

The young woman answered with a meekness 
and solemnity which silenced her interrogator. 
" Yes : every thing is Jesus Christ — who of God 
is made unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and 
sanctification, and redemption, that, according as 
it is written, he that glorieth, let him glory in the 
Lord." 

A few days afterwards, the cure, before several 
witnesses, returned to the contest, and among 
other things, took upon himself to declare, that all 
sins were not mortal. He named the sins which 
he called exclusively mortal, and then proceeded 
to argue himself right by analogy and by authority 
and afterwards launched out in defence of purga- 
tory, indulgences, &c. The young woman asked 
him to tell her, if the sin of Adam, which the cure 
had not contrived to include in the list of his mor- 
tal sins, was mortal or venial ?" 

This was too much for the controversialist. 
Taken by surprise, but yet perceiving the horns 
of the dilemma between which he was so ridicu- 
lously stuck, and aware of the consequences of 
answering such a question, he wisely replied that 
he would give an answer another time. 

Chancelas is a lovely village at the entrance of 
the valley of Fressiniere, where the mountains 



"CHANCELAS. 193 

lorni a splendid panorama, whoso vine-clad sides 
stretch on one sidedown to the Durance, and where 
the little hamlets, divided by ravines and torrents, 
are seen rising out of forests of larch trees. This 
village was often the scene of triumph to Neff 
and his converts, and the priests of that parish 
had the mortification of seeing many of their 
flock fall away from them, and become proselytes 
to the powerful reasoning |of the Swiss preacher. 
There was a family here, anciently Protestant, 
which had been forming connexions among the 
Roman Catholics, until they eventually deserted 
the worship of their ancestors, and went to mass. 
Upon the opening of the new church of Violins, 
the head of this family and two of his younger sons 
attended the service, and from that time, the young 
men regularly waited upon Neff 5 s ministry, both 
public and private, and one of them attached him- 
self closely to the pastor, and manifested the most 
devoted fidelity both to his person and his doc- 
trines. In his journeys from one valley to another, 
Neff frequently passed through Chancelas, and 
visited this family, but the elder son and his wife, 
invariably left the house, whenever he entered it, 
and continued to express a rude dislike, which was 
obvious to all. It so happened, that this man, 
whom nothing could persuade to listen to Neff, 
was persuaded to go and hear a friend of Neil's 
who preached at Palons. He returned home full 
of what he had been hearing, and as soon as he 
entered the house, he exclaimed to his wife, " we 
are lost if we neglect this way of salvation." The 
woman was moved by his earnestness, and from 
that time the pastor was no longer, treated with 
17 



194 



ANECDOTE. 



rudeness or neglect, but his conversation was 
eagerly sought for, and his persuasions were so 
forcible, that the whole family returned to the 
bosom of the Protestant communion. Many 
people of the same village followed this example 
and though the distance was very considerable 
from the church at Violins, all the new converts 
regularly attended public service whenever it was 
performed. This movement was becoming so 
general at Chancelas before NerT's health failed 
him, that it was thought necessary to send another 
cure there to produce a re-action ; but the vio- 
lence and intolerance of this person confirmed the 
sensation, which was beginning to be felt, and 
added to the number of those who questioned the 
infallibility of the Romish Church. NerT supplied 
several of the converts with Martin's edition of 
the New Testament, which is printed with refer- 
ences in the margin to paralell passages, and by 
the help of these, they used to turn to a variety of 
corresponding and confirmatory passages, when 
the priests told them that the texts they quoted, 
were only solitary passages which admitted of ex- 
planation. 

I was assured, when I was on the spot, two 
years after NefT's departure, that the flame kindled 
by him was still spreading, and that Chancelas 
was likely to become one of the most zealous 
Protestant villages in the whole region. But 
Chancelas was not the only place where his per- 
suasive eloquence made converts. In Val Quey- 
ras he was equally successful, and upon an occa- 
sion when it was thought that he had quitted the 
country, the cures triumphantly announced the 



CONVERSIONS. 195 

event from their pulpits. The priest of one of the 
parishes invited his people to bless God for having 
removed such a ravening wolf from their fold. 

" But that poor priest," said Neff, when he heard 
of it, " was ignorant that none can overturn the 
work which proceeds from God and that it can 
support itself without the assistance of the first in- 
struments, who laboured at it. In fact three per- 
sons of his flock left it, after I went away, to join 
that of Jesus Christ, and, but a little while before 
the younger sister of one of my converts did the 
same, and several proselytes, who had hitherto 
been timid, now openly declared themselves." 

The narrative of Neff 's labours, and of his suc- 
cessful efforts with the Roman Catholics in the 
High Alps, might be enriched with many more 
details of this kind, but I think it will be enough 
to bring this part of the relation to a conclusion, 
with the mention of an incident which he himself 
made known to the world during his life, by trans- 
mitting an account of it to one of the periodical 
publications of his own country. The two villa- 
ges of Palons and Chancelas, the scene of several 
of the pastor's most interesting conversions, lie 
contiguous to each other at the entrance of the val- 
ley of Fressiniere. Palons is at the very neck 
of the defile, and the rocks which overhang "the 
peasants' nests command a beautiful prospect 
both of the valley, which draws up narrower 
and narrower, as the traveller advances towards 
Dormillense, and of the country which opens 
down to the waters of Durance. 

One day Neff met, at Palons, a little shepher- 
dess, of twelve or thirteen years of age, whose 



196 MARIETTE. 

air and language struck him with surprise. In 
answer to his inquiries about her, he was told 
that her name was Mariette Guyon and that she 
lived in the adjacent hamlet of Punayer with her 
grandfather and grandmother, who were Roman 
Catholics ; that she had expressed great anxiety 
to be instructed in the true principles of the Gos- 
pel, and that they could not attribute this desire 
merely to human influence, and to the persuasions 
of Protestant acquaintances, for she was not per- 
mitted to associated with Protestants. He asked 
the child if she could read ? She burst into tears 
and said, " Oh ! if they would only let me come 
here to the Sunday school, I should soon learn, 
but they tell me that I already know too much." 
The pastor's interest was further excited, by learn- 
ing that what little she knew of the difference 
between the religion of the two churches was 
picked up by accident, and by stealthy conversa- 
tions with the converts of the neighbourhood. 

After his first short interview with the poor 
girl, he remained some time without hearing any 
thing more of her. In the interval, she .was de- 
prived of all regular means of improvement, but 
her zeal made her find out a very ingenious ex- 
pedient. She often kept her flock near a very 
rocky path which descended to the valley of 
Fressiniere, and when she saw a peasant pass, 
she would accost him in Tier patios, and ask 
" Where do you come from ?" If he named a 
Gatholic village, she said no more, and let him 
pass on. If he came from a Protestant hamlet. 



MARIETTE. 



197 



she approached him and put questions to him,* 
and if he displayed any zeal, and knowledge of 
the Gospel, she would keep him as long as he 
would good-naturedly remain, and treasure up all 
that she heard from his lips. At other times she 
would make friends with Protestant children, who 
were watching their sheep or goats near her, and 
would beg them to bring their Testaments, and 
read and translate to her. This went on until 
she saw that she was watched by some of the 
Roman Catholics, and was obliged to be more 
cautious. During the long and rigorous winter, 
which followed after NefT first saw her, the moun- 
tains were buried in snow, and the people could 
not go out of their villages, therefore Mariette 
had no intercourse with those whose conversa- 
tion she so much desired to cultivate. Notwith- 
standing her faith was strengthened and her mind 
enlightened, and on the return of spring she pos- 
itively refused to go to mass. In vain they at- 
tempted to force her by ill-usage. Her father was 
then appealed to, and first tried rigorous means, 
and then persuasion, to engage her to declare 
from whence she obtained what he called " these 
new ideas." She persisted in declaring that God 
alone had first put these things in her heart, and 
expressed herself with so much meekness and so- 
lemnity, in explanation of the motives by which 
she was actuated, that her father felt constrained 

* Literally did this child obey the Divine precept, " Stand 
ye in the paths and see, and ask for the old paths, where 
is the g-ood way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest 
for your souls." Jeremiah vi. 16. 

17* 



198 MAR1ETTE. 

to say to those who urged him to exert his au- 
thority, " Who am I, to oppose myself to God V y 
But he left her still under the care of her grand- 
father and mother, who continued to ill-treat her, 
although without success. 

The pastor shall now tell the continuation of 
the story himself. " Some time after I had learnt 
all these particulars, I was going to Palons, ac- 
companied by a young man, and Madeleine Fel- 
legrine, a most humble and zealous disciple of Je- 
sus Christ. Whilst stopping near the bridge and 
cascade of Rimasse, which precipitates itself into 
a deep abyss, we saw a flock of lambs, which ap- 
peared to be hastily driven toward us by a young 
shepherdess. It was Mariette. who had recog- 
nized us from a distance, and who ran up to us 
breathless with joy. She expressed in language 
which it is impossible to describe, how happy she 
was at meeting me. I requested Madeleine to 
watch the Hock while I conversed with Mariette. 
She thanked me with affectionate earnestness for 
the visit I had jnade to her father in her behalf. 
She spoke of \fhat she had suffered for the Gos- 
pel, in a manner so Christian and so touching, 
that I could hardly believe my ears, knowing that 
.the poor child did not know even the letters of 
'the alphabet. ' It is this, 5 she said, ' that gives me 
pain ; the evil spirit tempts me, by insinuating 
that I resist in vain, and that I am too young and 
feeble to persevere : but when I suffer most, then 
the good God supports me, and I fear nothing. 
They want me to make the sign of the cross; they 
wish to drag me to mass, and because I refuse, 
they beat me; and when they have beaten me for 



MARIETTE. 199 

the name of Jesus Christ, and see that I do not 
cry, but rejoice in his name, then they become fu- 
rious, and beat me still more; but were they to 
kill me, I would not cry, since the good God 
strengthens me.' She uttered many things equal- 
ly affecting. When she left me, she went to join 
another young shepherdess, a Protestant, with 
whom she oftentimes kept her flock, and who at- 
tended the Sunday-school for both of them, for 
she re.petf$Ba to Mariette verses from the Psalms, 
and passages from the New Testament, which she 
had learnt there. A short time afterwards I held 
a reunion near Funayer, which Mariette attended ; 
it as the first time she had ever, been present at 
P estant worship. She blessed God, who had 
in red her with the courage to do so, and ap- 
pe 3d most attentive to the sermon and the 
prayers, which were in French, though most pro- 
bably she^ was unable to comprehend more than a 
small part of the service, not understanding any 
language but the mountain patois. Not daring to 
return to Funayer, after this, she went to her fa- 
ther, and confessed to him all thai had occurred: 
he received her kindly, and took her back to her 
grandfather and grandmother, and strenuously for- 
bade them to ill-treat her for her religious opinions. 
This was something gained, but not sufficient for 
her ; she earnestly entreated him to allow her to 
attend the public worship : her constant prayer 
during the week was, that God would dispose her 
father to grant her permission. Her prayers were 
heard, and the Sunday following, we had the joy 
of seeing her come to our temple at Violins, along 
way from her home. She was received with eve- 



200 MARIETTE. 

ry demonstration of joy, and a poor man oi Min- 
sas, who had married an aunt of her's, promised 
to take her to his own house, if they would trust 
her with him, during the winter, and that he would 
there teach her to read, and instruct her more 
perfectly in the truths of the Gospel." 

Mariette's perseverance triumphed over the 
prejudices of her family. She was permitted to 
receive instruction, and to attend the public ser- 
vices of the protestant Church, and her singular 
history having reached the ears of some friends at 
Mens, they begged her father to be allowed to 
take charge of her, and her education was con- 
ducted under auspices which give us every reason 
to believe, that she is now a bright ornament of 
the community, whose faith she thus embraced 
from the strongest conviction of its purity. 



CHAPTER VIII. 



NefPs self-denial — Reminiscences in Val Fressiniere and 
Val Gtueyras — The Alpine pastor's duties and mode of 
life — Passion week in Dormilleuse and Val Fressiniere. 

The active life, which Neff led, must have been 
continually bringing scenes of great interest un- 
der his notice. I have before observed that he 
was an ardent lover of nature, from his very boy- 
hood, and an enthusiastic admirer of those, who 
had distinguished themselves, by achievements 
above the ordinary level of human daring and per- 
severance. And yet, though he was in the prov- 
ence which is the very land of interesting recol- 
lections, and every excursion, from one hamlet to 
another, conducted him over ground famous in 
history or romance, it is very rarely that his Jour- 
nals or correspondence contain any allusion to 
subjects unconnected with the great object before 
him. Occasionally we see a sparkling of the ear- 
ly spirit which animated him, but before it can 
kindle into a flame, it is suppressed by his self-de- 
nying resolution to know nothing but Jesus Christ, 
and him crucified. Even in little things, he 
seems to have been ever keeping himself under, 
and fixing a steady eye upon the great object of 
his life. One day he had been traversing one of 



202 neff's self-denial. 

those glorious Alpine summits, where the purity 
of the air, and the magnificence of the view, and 
the buoyancy of feeling so peculiar to mountain 
scenery, are enjoyed to a degree of exhilaration, 
which none can imagine, but those who have ex- 
perienced them, and naturally enough he felt in- 
clined to describe his sensations, when he was. 
writing down the incidents of the day. But he 
had scarcely penned his first expression of pleas- 
ure, before he checked himself, and substituted 
for the intended apostrophe of delight, a remark 
on what he considered to be the more proper 
contemplation of a servant of God, who must 
have no eye but to his Master's service. 

It is necessary to explore the valleys of the 
Durance and the Guil, aud the Ubaye, and of 
their tributary torrents, and to be well acquainted 
with the events which still live in the traditions of 
the natives, to appreciate that forbearance which 
the pastor exercised, when he abstained from mix- 
ing up any common place topics in that religious 
diary, from which I have principally drawn the 
materials of which this memoir is composed. He 
could not pass a defile, which had not been the 
scene of fierce conflict; every mountain side had 
rung with the din of arms, in defence of religious 
liberty, — and every cottage which he entered 
was the dwelling of a family, who had some me- 
mento to show, or some story to tell, of the suffer- 
ings or exploits of an ancestor in support of that 
cause, which he himself came to uphold, though 
with weapons of a very different warfare. In the 
valley of Fressiniere, the famous Duke de Les- 
diguieres, constable of France, left enterprises on 



HISTORICAL REMINISENCES. 203 

record, which are still the theme of every moun- 
taineer's praise. In Val Queyras, the strong 
passes which guard the frontiers of Italy w 7 ere 
garrisoned by NefT's own countrymen, the Swiss, 
who, in the stirring times of Francis the First, 
occupied the Col de la Croix, and all the practi- 
cable defiles on the mountain border, and com- 
pelled the Freneh monarch, when he menanced 
Piemont, to attempt a passage across the Alps, 
by a route which had never before been attempted 
by any body of armed men. This route lay 
through that part of NefT's parish w r hich was be- 
tween Guillestre and the Col D'Argentiere. None 
but the chamois hunter, or the contraband adven- 
turer, had ever traversed the mountain path, by 
which the chivalry of France then pushed their 
way into the plains of Piemont. How different 
was the object which led NefT to the deep and 
dreary ravines, which once rung with the din of 
pioneers levelling the rocks, cutting down trees to 
throw bridges across the torrents, and widening 
the shepherd's paths for the pasfage of artillery. 
The Romantic courage of the French leaders and 
soldiers, which was not to be subdued by the dif- 
ficulties of their enterprise, has been the theme of 
many a page of eulogy. That they should have 
braved "the rushing cataracts, the falling avalan- 
ches, the hoarse roar of the mountain winds, 
which put within the rocky walls, might have 
been imagined to utter forebodings and maledic- 
tions, and the appalling accidents by which men 
and cattle were lost," — has been the admiration of 
the world ever since ! How much more ought 
we to admire the fortitude of our pastor of the 



204 THE ALPINE PASTOR'S DUTIES, 

Alps, who often braved all these horrors alone, 
with none by his side to encourage him, or to 
share his dangers. Not only at a favourable sea- 
son of the year, but in winter ; amidst snow and 
sleet beating in his face, many times did he scale 
those summits, and cross the torrents as a mes- 
senger of peace. 

Neff's second winter in the Freneh Alps was 
spent very much like the first, for the season was 
mild and open, and he shifted his ground from 
hamlet to hamlet, and from house to house, 
accordingly as he found his presence neces ary 
to strengthen the weak, or to conform the strong. 
His journej^ings, in the frequent tour of his 
parish, rendered his life a migratory one in the 
full sense of the word, and all. that our own 
George Herbert imagined and recommended in 
his " Country Parson," was realized in the pastor 
of the High Alps, save his contemplations on 
"the parson in his house." He had se^much to 
do out of doors, and away from his own habita- 
tion, that home auties, as well as home pleasures, 
are to be excluded from the list. But we behold 
in him. "The parson in circuit," — " The parson 
in journey," — " The parson comforting," — " The 
parson in sentinel," — " The parson catechizing,". 
— " The parson's completeness." It was not on 
Sunday only, that he went the round of his 
churches, but he was ever visiting now one 
quarter, and then another : and happy did they 
esteem themselves at whose table he sat down, 
and under whose roof he lodged for the night, 
When his arival was expected in certain hamlets, 
whose rotation to be visited was supposed to be 



NEFF ON HIS CIRCUIT. 205 

coming round, it was beautiful to see the cottages 
send forth their inhabitants, to watch the coming 
of the beloved minister. " Come, take your 
dinner with us. 55 — " Let me prepare your supper." 
— " Permit me to give up my bed to you," — were 
re-echoed from many a voice, and though there 
was nothing in the repast which denoted a feast- 
day, yet never was festival observed with greater 
rejoicing than by those, whose rye-bread and 
pottage were shared by the pastor Neff. Some- 
times, when the old people of one cabin were 
standing at their doors, and straining their eyes 
to catch the first view of their " guide to heaven, 
the youngsters of another were perched on the 
summit of a rock, and stealing a prospect which 
would afford them an earlier sight of him, and 
give them the opportunity of offering the first 
invitation. It was on these occasions, that he 
obtained a perfect knowledge of the people, ques- 
tioning them about such of their domestic con- 
cerns as he might be. supposed to take an inte- 
rest in, as well as about their spiritual condition, 
and finding where he could be useful both as a 
secular adviser and a religious counsellor. " Could 
all their children read % Did they understand 
what they read ? Did they offer up morning and 
evening prayers 1 Had they any wants that he 
could relieve 1 Any doubts that he could remove ? 
Any afflictions wherein he could be a comforter % 
It was thus that he was the father of his flock, 
and master of their affections' and their opinions; 
and when the seniors asked for his blessing, and 
the children took hold of his hands or his knees, 
he felt all the fatigue of his long journeys pass 
18 



206 NEFF ON HIS CIRCUIT. 

away, and became recruited with new strength. 
But for the high and holy feelings which sustain- 
ed him, it is impossible that he could have borne 
up against his numerous toils and exposures, even 
for the few months in which he thus put his con- 
stitution to the trial. Neither rugged paths, nor 
the inclement weather of these Alps, which would 
change suddenly from sunshine to rain, and from 
rain to sleet, and from sleet to snow : nor snow 
deep under foot, and obscuring the view when 
dangers lay thick on his road ; nothing of this 
sort deterred him from setting out, with his staff 
in his hand, and his wallet on his back, when he 
imagined that his duty summoned him. I have 
been assured by those who have received him 
into their houses at such times, that he has come 
in chilly, wet, and fatigued ; or exhausted by heat, 
and sudden transitions from excessive heat to 
piercing cold, and that after sitting down a few 
minutes, his elastic spirits would seem to renovate 
his sinking frame, and he would enter into dis- 
course with all the mental vigour of one who was 
neither weary nor languid. **[>, 

When he was not residential the presbytery, 
he was the guest of some,tpRsant, who found 
him willing to live as he lived, to make a scanty 
meal of soup-maigre, often without salt or bread. 
and to retire to rest in the same apartment, where 
a numerous family wemdrowded together, amidst 
all the inconveniencesSracrrrty and smoky hovel. 
The people of Arvietiy and La Chalp were rather 
dissatisfied with the small share which they had 
of his company and ministrations. They thought 
that the habitation, which was provided for him 



NEFF ON HIS CIRCUIT. 207 

in their commune, gave them a greater claim to 
his services than any other portion of his parish- 
ioners, and one day, when he was preparing to 
take a journey to a distant hamlet, they remon- 
strated very earnestly with him, and complained 
that he did not make the presbytery his home. 
The pastoi endeavoured to explain to them, that 
they could not reasonably expect him to devote 
more of his time to them, than to the rest of the 
population : that he must divide his services ac- 
cording to the number of those who required 
them, and that, so long as he did not take up his 
abode in any other part of the parish capriciously, 
or for a longer period than was necessary, they 
had no just cause of complaint. The inhabitants 
of the upper part of the same section, San Veran, 
Pierre-Grosse, and Fousillarde, to whom he com- 
municated the murmurs of those of Arvieux, as- 
sured him, that they too had great cause to regret 
the little time that he could devote to them, but 
that they were well aware of the extent of his 
charge, and of the necessity which was laid upon 
him, of giving all his flock an equal share of his 
attention, as far as it was practicable to do so. 

But independently of the sense of duty which 
led him to shift his residence from one place to 
another, therelwSRiothing in Arvieux to tempt 
him to prolong his sojournment there. The repose 
and enjoyment of domesjtia life had no attractions 
for him, and the natives oil Arvieux were, with 
few exceptions, so little imjWoved by his instruc- 
tions, that he thought his time was better em- 
ployed in other places. " More and more," said 
he, to an intimate friend, " do I experience the 



208 NEFF ON HIS CIRCUIT. 

truth of the declaration, that he who planteth, and 
he who watereth is nothing. How often I sigh to 
think of these poor Arvieusians? but it is one of 
the severe trials to which a pastor must submit, 
to find that he is labouring in vain." 

Upon another occasion he wrote thus : " I left 
this stony place for Fressiniere, (Monday, March 
28th, 1825,) where the Eternal had prepared more 
comfort for me." It took him three days, on that 
occasion, before he could get through the lower 
hamlets of the valley, for though it was only 
twenty days since he had paid them a previous 
visit, yet he was obliged to make many stops on 
the route, to receive the demonstrations of affec- 
tion, which they were anxious to offer him. It 
was Passion week, an interesting season, when 
both the pastor and his flock were preparing 
themselves for the observance of the most solemn 
festival of the Christian Church, the Easter com- 
munion ; and among these simple people, the pre- 
paration and the ceremonial itself were conducted 
with all the solemnity, with which the primitive 
Christians were wont to observe it. 

Every person who intended to present himself 
at the Lord's table, was expected to gim intima- 
tion to the minister, and thos^pung persons who 
were to communicate for the first time, were sub- 
jected to a most rigid examination. I have used 
the word ceremonial, but it was far from being a 
mere outward observance. 

As the pastor was slowly wending his way from 
Minsas towards the abrupt steep which conducts 
to Dormilleuse, and pondering in his mind on the 
spiritual improvement which he hoped to find in 



PASSION WEEK. 209 

his catechumens since his last instructions, he sud- 
denly beheld a sight which called all his strong 
feelings into action. His return to Dormilleuse 
was welcomed, like that of Stouber to the Ban de 
la Roche, when all the inhabitants, old and young, 
ascended the top of the mountain to watch his ap- 
proach. A large company of the villagers did 
more than wait Neff's coming, they were descend- 
ing the rock to meet him, and to greet his arrival. 
In vain he beckoned to them to stop, and not give 
themselves the trouble of remounting the whole 
of that formidable acclivity. The faithful crea- 
tures ventured to disobey their beloved guide this 
once, and hurried down the slippery and treache- 
rous path, literally to throw themselves into his 
arms. When he gently blamed them for putting 
themselves to this unnecessary fatigue, one of 
them gave utterance to a sentiment to which they 
all responded. " It is not often that we have the 
enjoyment of walking with you, and we value it 
too much to lose it." It was a beautiful oppor- 
tunity of obeying the Divine precept, and the 
pastor did not lose it. " And those words that I 
command thee shall be in thy heart, and thou 
shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, 
and when thou walkest by the way." 

I collect from tne tenor of his Journal, that 
Neff and those of his young flock who were to 
commenorate their Lord's death on the following 
Sunday, (Easter day,) by eating bread and drink- 
ing wine, according to Christ's solemn injunction, 
in remembrance of him, spent the whole of the 
anniversary of " the night of treason," in exer- 
cises of devotion. At midnight they walked out 
18* 



210 PASSION WEEK. 

to take the air, and as they passed a house where 
some young women were assembled, they heard 
sounds which told them that the inmates were en- 
gaged in sacred duties. They heard the voice of 
weeping and lamentation, but they were not those 
wild and extravagant sounds, which sometimes 
proceed from persons who are wrought up to 
bursts of passion, which more resemble the exsta- 
cies of Bacchantes than the emotions of Christian 
penitence. " I listened," said the pastor, " for a 
moment to those plantive expressions, and affect- 
ing rythmical apostrophes, which are peculiar to 
the patois of this country, and which cannot be 
translated into French. The French language is 
not rich enough to bear the transfusion. I would 
not interrupt them, but went by silently, and per- 
ceived that the young companions of my walk 
were as much affected as I was. So passed this 
night, which the Lamb without stain or spot con- 
secrated by his agony and passion ! If that Holy 
One was obliged to taste of the cup of his Father's 
wrath, if his soul was exceedingly sorrowful even 
unto death, to think of the condemnation under 
which all the world lay, must not the really guilty 
tremble when they think of the weight o,f a tres- 
passed covenant V s 

At day break, on Good Friday, Neff's unbroken 
perseverance urged him to descend from Dor- 
milieuse to Minsas, to examine the intended com- 
municants there, and at ten o'clock he performed 
public service at the new church of Violins. It 
was crowded. Every Protestant of the valley 
seemed to be present, and the heart of the pastor 
must have been deeply moved, to see the seats 



PASSION WEEK. 211 

opposite to the pulpit occupied by about a hundred 
young persons, who were preparing themselves to 
appear at the Lord's table on the approaching 
solemnity. In fact, of all the youth of the valley 
of Fressiniere, who were of the proper age, and 
who were able to attend, not one was absent. 
Perhaps such a scene was never witnessed in any 
Christian community before, and nothing could 
attest more forcibly the indefatigable labours of 
the spiritual shepherd of the flock, who when 
" the sheep wandered through all the mountains, 
and upon every high hill, searched for them, and 
fed them, and brought them to a good fold." 

Upon these solemnities, after the sermon, the 
intended communicants are called upon to repeat 
their baptismal vows : a custom most worthy of 
imitation and of more general practice ; especially 
when it is done with the impressive seriousness 
which distinguished the service in the Alpine 
churches of France and Italy. But upon this oc- 
casion, when the young people shouid have made 
the declaration of their faith and obedience, not 
a voice was heard. A few stifled sounds, and 
half-smothered sobs were all that struck the pas- 
tor's ear. He was obliged to recite the words 
for them, and to suppose that their awful, mute 
assent, was the deliberate renewal of their engage- 
ments. The formulary used by NerT in his Al- 
pine churches on this occasion, and on others, 
when young persons were received at the Lord's 
table for the first time, resembled that of the 
Genevan Church. After the sermon, the pastor 
addressing the congregation, says, " We shall 
presently receive at the Lord's table those young 



212 PASSION WEEK. 

persons, whom you now behold, who have given 
sufficient proof, after a solemn examination, that 
they have been properly instructed in the nature 
of the ordinance. They come to take upon them- 
selves the most sacred engagements : to make an 
open profession of the Gospel, — and to undertake 
the discharge of its duties, in order that they may 
henceforth enjoy all the privileges which Christ 
vouchsafes to those that are his. 

" We will begin by reminding these young peo- 
ple what they have engaged to do. 

" You then, who desire to be received at the 
Lord's table, and who have been instructed in the 
truths of the Gospel, are you so thoroughly con- 
vinced of these truths, that nothing could induce 
you to renounce the Christian religion, and that 
you are ready to suffer any thing rather thaa 
abandon your Christian profession % 

" Yes. 

" Have you examined yourselves, and are you 
resolved to renounce sin, and to regulate your 
lives according to the commandments of God % 

" Yes. 

" As in the sacrament of the Last Supper, we 
profess to be all of one body, do you desire to 
live in peace and charity, to love your brethren, 
and to give them proofs of your love in all things'? 

" Yes. 

" To confirm your faith and your piety do you 
promise to apply yourselves diligently to read and 
meditate upon the word of God — and to prayer 
■ — to frequent the holy assemblies, and to employ 
all the means which Providence has imparted to 
you of advancing your salvation ? 



PASSION WEEK. 213 

" Yes. 

" Do you sincerely ratify your baptismal vows, 
which oblige you to resist your evil inclinations, 
and to consecrate yourselves to God and Jesus 
Christ your Saviour, and to live in his commun- 
ion, in temperance, righteousness, and piety? 

" Yes." 

Then follows a solemn address to them. On 
the occasion which I have been describing, when 
the service was over, the greater part of the con- 
gregation remained for a time upon their knees, 
so absorbed were they in the devotional feelings 
of the hour. 

Some Protestant churches and congregations, 
that they may keep at the greatest possible dis- 
tance from the Church of Rome, and from the 
Church of England, which has, in her discretion, 
retained all that she judged to be unobjectionable 
in the Romish ritual, reject all observance of 
Christmas-day, Good Friday, Ascension-day, and 
other festivals of the ancient Christians. Not so 
the Alpine Churches — those remains of the prim- 
itive Christians ; they observe these days with 
marked attention ; and thus we find that Neff, and 
his mountain flock of the valley of Fressiniere, 
consecrated the whole of the day of the crucifix- 
ion to acts of devotion. At two o'clook they re- 
assembled in the church of Violins. "And then," 
Neff observes in his Jourual, "I performed the 
service according to the form used by the Mora- 
vian brethren, that is to say, by reading a har- 
monized narative of the events of the Passion- 
week, compiled from the four Evangelists. This 
was interrupted occasionally by the singing of 



214 EIGHT DAYS' LABOUR. 

psalms, selected with a. view to their conformity 
with the Gospel relation. The impression was 
even greater than that which was made in the 
morning; very few of the congregation could 
command themselves sufficiently to sing — two of 
the leading singers could not raise a note. Mr. 

B said to me whem the church was over — 

" This is a most simple and affecting service. 
The finest sermon could not produce the same 
effect !» 

Having spent the Thursday of Passion-week 
at Dormilleuse, and Good-Friday at Minsas and 
Violins, the pastor thought it right to give Sat- 
urday to the inhabitants of Fressiniere and Pa- 
Ions. On Easter Sunday he again officiated in 
the new church at Violins, and administered the 
sacrament to an assembly so numerous, that it 
was remarked by the oldest people, that they 
had never before seen half the same number of 
communicants. On Easter Monday the untired 
minister performed three public services at Dor- 
milleuse, at w T hich the whole of the Protestant 
population of the valley, who could climb the 
rock, were present. 

" So passed this happy week," wrote the pas- 
tor, " this holy week, for such it really was in this 
valley. The inhabitants spent it in penitence 
and prayer, or in pious reading or conversation. 
All the young people seemed to be animated by 
the same spirit : a flame of holy fire appeared to 
spread from one to another, like an electric spark. 
During the whole of the eight days, I had not 
thirty hours rest. Before and after, and in the 
interval of the public services, the young people 



PASTORAL ATTACHMENT. 215 

might be seen sitting in groups among the huge 
blocks of granite, with which the place is covered, 
edifying each other by serious reading or conver- 
sation. I was absolutely astonished by this sud- 
den awakening. I could scarcely collect my 
scattered thoughts. The rocks, the cascades, even 
the surrounding ice, seemed to present a new and 
less dreary aspect. This savage country became 
agreeable and dear to me : it was at once the 
home of my brethren ; the beloved Jerusalem of 
my affection.* But I must not forget, that there 
are always more flowers in spring than fruit in 
autumn, and that at the first awakening, many ap- 
pear to be converted, who are only drawn along 
by the general movement. It is like the burning 
flint in the midst of the brazier, which looks like 
the flaming charcoal. Butj however it may turn 
out, it is the work of the Eternal. He only can 
recognise those who are his, and knows how to 
make it manifest that they are his. To him be 
the praise and the glory forever and ever. Amen." 

* Psalm cxxiL 



CHAPTER IX. 



Neff's extraordinary influence over his Flock — How ob- 
tained — His improvements introduced into the condition 
of the Alpines — Their wretched state previously to his 
arrival — Proposes to himself the example of Oberlin — 
The Aqueduct — The Christian Advocate — Neff a Teach- 
er of Agriculture— Neff at the Fair of St. Crepin — Ob- 
servations. 

Time and eternity will show, whether the pastor 
of the high Alps had such a blessing upon his 
labours, as enabled him to produce a lasting im- 
pression upon the minds of those simple moun- 
taineers, who devoted themselves with such impul- 
sive ardour to the cause of the Gospel. His full 
usefulness will be known in that glorious day when 
the number of God's elect shall be completed. It 
is certain, however, that his influence over them 
was something quite extraordinary. This influ- 
ence would have been less a matter of wonder, 
had he resorted to any of those extravagances, 
which too often succeed by turning the heads of 
the ignorant and fanatical. But it was not so : 
the whole course of his ministry was sustained 
by the same even and sober piety : his preaching 
was forcible, and faithful to the doctrine of re- 
demption through a crucified Saviour : but never 
solicited attention by stirring up the wild passions, 



neff's influence, 217 

or vain-glorious and fond conceits of his hearers. 
He made no use of those arts by which " silly 
women," and silly men are led captive. His 
Journals make us fully acquainted with his doc- 
trine, his manner of life, his purpose, his faith, 
his long-suffering, his charity, and his patience ; 
and to these virtues, the influence, which he ob- 
tained, must be attributed in a very great degree. 

Neff was not merely the Sabbath day minister 
and instructor : nor was he the religious guide 
only. He was every thing to his mountaineers : 
he interested himself warmly in all their concerns, 
and when they saw that his sole object, and un- 
wearied endeavour was to make them happier, and 
better in all the relations of life, than he found 
them, he bowed their hearts, as the heart of one 
man, and they reverenced the Mentor, who was 
always busy in adding to their stock of comfort.* 

Like the philosopher with the. shipwrecked 
crew, in the uninhabited island, his example, his 
contrivances, his persuasions, his suggestions, were 
ever leading the way to some new improvement 
in their condition. He taught them to improve 
their dwelling, to cultivate their lands to greater 

* " By evincing a sincere interest in their concerns, I 
would endeavour to gain their confidence, and induce 
them to regard me as their friend : and then having once 
obtained this confidence, and a proportionate degree of 
influence, I would exert it to the utmost of my ability to 
their advantage, both in the instruction of the young, and 
the conversion of the old, seeking to win their affections 
by my earnest desire to promote their spiritual interests. 
If you adopt this method, my dear friend, God will take 
care of the rest. 3 ' Stouber's Advice to Oberlin. — Memoirs 
of Oberlin, p. 71. 

19 



218 neff's influence. 

advantage, to employ time profitably and agree- 
ably that had previously hung heavy upon their 
hands, and to find occupation and amusement in 
numberless resources, of which they had no con- 
ception till his arrival among them. He was 
their schoolmaster in short, not only to bring 
them unto Christ, but to instruct them in what- 
ever was useful and advantageous. They saw 
that he had their best interests at heart — and the 
current of their affections naturally flowed to- 
wards him, in the full tide of confidence and ven- 
eration. 

The natives of Val Fressiniere had, perhaps, 
greater reason than the rest of his flock, to attach 
themselves most affectionately to their pastor, for 
finding them in a more forlorn condition than 
the others, he did more for them in the way of 
general improvement. Their persevering fidelity 
to the faith and discipline of their ancestors, when 
their nearest neighbours, the inhabitants of Val 
Louise had been exterminated, and when the peo- 
ple of Val Queyras had conformed outwardly to 
the religion of Rome, had cut them off so effec- 
tually from all human society,* during a long 



* I transcribe the following* edict of Louis XII. in proof 
of the unmerited suffering of the Protestants of this region, 
when the iron hand of their oppressors lay most heavy up- 
on them« 

" Lewis, by the grace of God, king of France. 

" Forasmuch as it is come to our knowledge that the in- 
habitants of Fressiniere have endured great troubles, 
vexations, and punishments, we, desiring to relieve them, 
and to cause their property to be restored to them, do, by 
these presents, command all those that retain such pro- 



AMELIORATIONS. 219 

period of time, and from all the conveniences of 
civilized life, that on Neff 's arrival at Dormillieuse, 
he found them the same half-barbarous tribe, 
which De Thou represented them 250 years be- 
fore. One proof of their utter wretchedness af- 
fected him sensibly. Long habits of suspicion, 
and the dread of ill-treatment, had become so nat- 
ural to them, that at the sight of a stranger, they 
ran into their huts, particularly the young people, 
like marmots into their holes. Their houses, 
clothes, food, and the method of cultivation, were 
four or rive centuries behind the rest of France, 
and to this hour, after all his exertions to amelior- 
ate their state, if a stranger could be carried asleep 
to their village, on waking he never would believe 
that he was in the land of civilized Frenchmen. 
The pastor had to begin with first principles, and 
in this his scientific knowledge, and the systemat- 
ic rules of command and obedience, in which he 
had himself been so well schooled in the garrison 
at Geneva, came seasonably to his help. He 
knew how to set about arranging and giving di^ 
rections. 

His first attempt was to impart an idea of do- 
mestic convenience. Chimneys and windows to 
their hovels were luxuries to which few of them 

perty, to restore it without delay. And in case of refusal 
or delay, we, having" regard to their poverty and misery, 
and inability to obtain justice, will take cognizance there- 
of in our own person, warning all those who shall contin- 
ue to do them wroner, to appear before us. Given at Lyon, 
the 12th of Octoberl501.» 

This was after the celebrated papal bull of 1487, when 
the Protestants of Val Fressiniere were pursued like wild 
beasts, and had their property confiscated. 



220 NEFF AND OBERLIN. 

had aspired, till he showed them how easy it was 
to make a passage for the smoke, and admittance 
for the light and air. He next convinced them 
that warmth might be obtained more healthily, 
than by pigging together for six or seven months 
in stables, from which the muck of the cattle was 
removed but once during the year. For their 
coarse and unwholesome food, he had, indeed, no 
substitute ; because the sterility of the soil would 
produce no other, but he pointed out a mode of 
tillage by which they increased the quantity ; 
and in cases of illness, when they had no concep- 
tion of applying the simplest remedies, he pointed 
out the comfort which a sick person may derive 
from light and warm soups, and ptisans, and other 
soothing assistance. So ignorant were they of 
what was hurtful or beneficial in acute disorders, 
that wine and brandy , were no unusual prescrip- 
tions in the height of a raging fever. 

Strange enough, and stil more characteristic 
of savage life, the women till Neff taught the 
men better manners, were treated with so much 
disregard, that they never sat at table with their 
husband or brothers, but stood behind them, and 
received morsels from their hands with obeisance 
and profound reverence. 

" But with all this, they participated in the 
general corruption of human nature, as far as 
their poverty would let them. Gaming, dancing, 
swearing and quarrelling, were not uncommon, 
though the Papists, who occupied the lower part 
of the valley, were certainly much more coruipt. 
Nevertheless, the wretchedness of this people, 
commends them to our compassion, and ought to 



NEFF AND OBERLIN. 221 

excite the deepest interest, when we consider, 
that it is the result of their ancestors' fidelity to 
our cause. Persecution has penned them up, 
like frightened and helpless sheep, in a narrow 
gorge, where there is scarcely an habitation 
which is not exposed to avalanches of snow, or 
falling rocks. From the first moment of my ar- 
rival, I took them as it were to my heart, and I 
ardently desired to be unto them, even as another 
Qbevlin. Unfortunately I could not then give 
them more than a week in each month, whereas, 
such is the length of the valley, and the number 
of the hamlets, that I ought to be constantly there. 
But the Almighty has been pleased to bless the 
little care that I could bestow upon them, and to 
permit a change to be produced in more respects 
than one." 

So affectionately, so apologetically, when he was 
constrained by the force of truth to touch on their 
failings, and so modestly, when he was recording 
his own exertions, did this excellent man write 
down his thoughts, when the Val Fressiniere was 
the subject of his Journal. 

The Character of Oberlin was NerT's delight 
and his model, and if it did not first waken his 
desire to become eminent, in the same way, it 
confirmed his good resolutions. The good which 
is done by the recital of labours like those of 
Oberlin, and by giving circulation to the memoir 
of such a life, was singularly illustrated in the 
case now before us. The pastor of the Alps had 
by some means become acquainted* with the 

* Probably by reading the letter printed in a German 
magazine in 1793, and some accounts of him in the Bible 
19* 



222 NEFF AND OBERLIN. 

history of the pastor of the Vosges, and of his im- 
provements in the Ban de la Roche ; several pub- 
lications had noticed Oberlins beneficial labours 
in his mountain parish, and Neff J s bosom glowed 
with a noble emulation to imitate his doings. 
Therefore without derogating in the least degree 
from Neff's merits, it may be said that much of 
his usefulness may be attributed to the practical 
lesson, which Oberlin had previously taught. It 
is for this reason, that few greater boons can be 
conferred on society, than by giving all possible 
notoriety to the labours of such benefactors of 
mankind ; as our own Bernard Gilpin, and George 
Herbert, or Frederick Oberlin, who in their hum- 
ble stations of parish priests, promoted the tem- 
poral and spiritual good of their people at the same 
time. Many a young clergyman has received the 
same impression as Neff, from reading such biog- 
raphy, and has lighted his candle at such glorious 
lamps, and has been inspired with the noblest 
of all ambition, that of distributing happiness 
and comfort within the immediate circle of his du- 
ties. 

The amiable biographer, who collected the 
memorials of Oberlin, may enjoy the exquisite 
satisfaction of believing, that her record of his 
blameless life, and indefatigable labours, will be 
like a voice exclaiming in the ears of many, who 
begin to feel the pleasure of being useful, " Go 
and do thou likewise," and will thus be the 

Society's Reports, or " Promenades Aisaciennes," par M. 
Merlin, and " Rapport fait a la Societe Royale d 5 Agricul- 
ture, par M. Le Comte de Neuf-Chateau, sur V Agricul- 
ture et la Civilization du Ban de la Roche. ; ' 



SCHEMES OF IMPROVEMENT. 223 

means of perpetuating to future generations, the 
influence of Oberlin's beneficent exertions, more 
effectually than any monument to his memory. 

In his private memoranda, NefT frequently 
made allusion to the same fact, that in remote, 
and particularly in Alpine villages, the life of 
a minister of the Gospel resembles that of a mis- 
sionary in uncivilized countries, and to use his 
own expression, " It is necessary to be a Frederick 
Oberlin, to do all that is required of him." From 
the first, therefore, he made it his study to con- 
ciliate the affections and confidence of the peasants 
by employing all his attainments for their im- 
provement, and by showing them that there were 
many things, in which his general knowledge 
might be rendered serviceable to them. He not 
only did not hesitate, but he sought occasions, to 
put his hand to the tool of the mechanic and arti- 
san, and to the husbandman's implement, and thus 
to drill the peasantry into better management, and 
to instruct them in the best mode of adding to 
their stock of conveniences and comfort. We 
have already seen him working with the masons 
and carpenters, to give the last air of architectural 
beauty to the new church of Violins, and now I 
will exhibit him in the character of an agricultu- 
rist, introducing an improved method of irrigation 
and a system of sowing and planting, which doub- 
led the quantity of production. 

One of the principal resources of the valley of 
Fressiniere, is the breeding and pasturage of cattle. 
But the winter is so long, and the tracts of land 
capable of producing fodder are so scanty, that 
every blade of grass that can be laised and 



224 THE AQUEDUCT. 

made into hay, is a very treasure. A dry summer 
often left them unprovided with hay, and com- 
pelled the poor 'creatures to part with their stock 
at an inadequate price. NerT's eye perceived 
that a direction might be given to the streams in 
one part, which would improve the ground in 
another, and furnish the proprietors with constant 
means of keeping the grass fresh and moist. But 
he found the utmost difficulty in explaining the 
simplest principles of hydraulics, and in persua- 
ding his ignorant listeners that the water might 
be made to rise and fail, and might be dammed up 
and distributed, accordingly as it might be requir- 
ed for use. The imaginary expense stared them 
in the face like certain ruin ; and the labour appal- 
led them, as being perfectly insuperable. When 
their pastor first advised them to construct the ca- 
nals necessary for the purpose, they absolutely 
refused to attempt it, and he was obliged to tell 
them, that they 'were equally deaf to temporal and 
spiritual counsel. Pointing to the rushing waters 
which were capable of being diverted from their 
course to the parched and sterile soil, which he 
wished to see improved, he exclaimed, " You 
make as little use of those ample streams, as you 
do of the water of life. God has vouchsafed to of- 
fer you both in abundance, but your pastures, like 
your hearts, are languishing with drought !" 

In the spring of 1825, there had been so little 
snow, that there was every appearance of the soil 
yielding even less than its usual scanty increase : 
its wonted supply of moisture had failed. NefT 
took advantage of the state of the season, and 
once more pressed them to adopt his mode of irri- 



THE AaUEDUCT. 225 

gation. But still reluctance and the excuses were 
the same. If the canals and acqueducts were 
made, they would soon get out of order : if one 
proprietor adopted them, another would not : the 
next neighbour would not permit them to cross 
his land, and one opponent of the measure might 
stop the whole proceeding : but if all should agree, 
and the work were to be brought to a happy con- 
clusion, an avalanche, or a crumbling mass of 
granite would soon crush or interrupt the con- 
structions, and reduce them to their old condition. 
In vain did the pastor endeavour to convince them 
of the weakness of these arguments, particularly 
of the last : they might as well refuse to plant 
and sow, or to build houses, for nothing was safe 
from avalanches. Finding that he could not pre- 
vail, when he addressed them in a body, he took 
them separately, and asked, " Will you con- 
sent if your neighbour will % Will you put your 
shoulder to the work, if the occupiers of the next 
property will join you?" They were ashamed to 
refuse, when they were thus personally appealed 
to, and an unwilling acquiescence was thus grad- 
ually obtained. But then arose another and more 
formidable objection. " Suppose the aqueducts 
are completed, and the water flows, will the dis- 
tribution be equal ? Will not my neighbour get 
more of the water than I shall ? How do I know 
that he will not exhaust the supply, before my 
land has had a drop." Neff was too ready at expe- 
dients to be easily foiled. He proposed that there 
should be a committee, and an arbiter, to deter- 
mine what share of the public benefit each occu- 
pier should enjoy, and how long, and on what 



226 THE AQUEDUCT. 

days, and at what hours, the stream should be 
permitted to pour its waters into different sections 
and branches of its courses. 

At length all preliminaries were settled, and 
the work was to be done. The line was marked 
out, and the proprietors consented that the main 
channel should cross and recross their lands ac- 
cordingly as it should be required. But again 
there was some demur. The people would only 
labour at that part of the construction which was 
to irrigate their own ground. M Be it so," said 
Neff, " only let us make a beginning." He saw 
that he could easily bring them to good humour 
and compliance, if he could only once set them 
on. Every thing having been arranged, the work- 
ing party, consisting of forty, met at day-break, 
and with their pastor at their head,* proceeded to 
examine the remains of an ancient aqueduct, 
which it was thought might be rendered in some 
degree available to their present purpose, if they 
could so far make out its line as to follow its di- 
rection. Some few traces were discernible, but 
the sight of them seemed to dishearten rather 
than encourage the conscripts. 

" We shall be three days," said one, "before we 
can complete this part of our work !" 

* How Oberliu lived again in this incident ! " Oberlin 
had already traced the plan (of the bridge across the 
Bouche) and no sooner had he pronounced the words, 
c Let all who feel the importance of my proposition come 
and work with me,' then with a pickaxe on his shoulder, 
he proceeded to the spot, while the astonished peasants, 
animated by his example, forgot their excuses, and hast- 
ened with unanimous consent to fetch their tools and 
follow him." — Memoirs of Obe.rlin % p. 65. 



THE AaUEDUCT. 227 

" It will take us not less than six," said anoth- 
er, " ten," said a third. 

" Not quite so many," said the pastor mildly, 
and with his benevolent smile. 

Neff divided his troop into little detachments, 
of five or six, with a commander at the head of 
each, and taking upon himself the direction in 
chief, he allotted a distinct proportion of the work 
to each. Presently all were busy, some digging 
and excavating, others clearing away ; the pastor 
himself was at one time plying his pickaxe, and 
another time moving from place to place, and su- 
perintending the progress of others. At ten 
o'clock the party expressed a desire to discontinue 
their labour and go home to their breakfast. But 
this would not do for their chief. He foresaw 
that there would be stragglers, and perhaps de- 
serters, if they should once lose sight of each 
other : therefore, still setting them the example, 
he sent for his own breakfast, continued at his 
work, and persuaded the rest to do the same. 

It was a toilsome undertaking. In some places 
they had to elevate the floor of the main channel 
to the height of eight feet, and in others to lower 
it as much. In the course of the first day's la- 
bour, it was necessary to carry the construction 
across the rocky beds of three or four torrents, 
and often when the work appeared to be effectu- 
ally done, Neff detected a default in the level, or 
in the inclination of the water course, which ob- 
liged him to insist upon their going over it again. 
At four o'clock the volunteers were rewarded by 
seeing the first fruits of their labours : one line of 
aqueduct was completed ; the dam was raised, 



228 THE AaUEDUCT. 

and the water rushed into the nearest meadow 
amidst the joyful shouts of workmen and specta- 
tors. The next day some cross cuts were made, 
and proprietors, who were supposed to be secretly 
hostile and incredulous, saw the works carried 
over their ground without offering any opposition 
to the measure, for who could indulge his obsti- 
nate and dogged humour, when the benevolent 
stranger, the warm hearted minister, was toiling 
in the sweat of his brow to achieve a public good 
which could never be of the least advantage to 
himself? It was the good shepherd, not taking 
the fleece, but exhausting his own strength, and 
wearing himself out for the sheep. On the third, 
and on the following days, small transverse lines 
were formed, and a long channel was made across 
the face of the mountain, to supply three village 
fountains with water. This last was a very for- 
midable enterprize. It was necessary to under- 
mine the rock, to blast it, and to construct a pas- 
sage for the stream in granite of the very hardest 
kind. " I had never done any thing like it be- 
fore," is the pastor's note upon this achievement, 
" but it was necessary to assume an air of scien- 
tific confidence, and to give my orders like an 
experienced engineer." 

The work was brought to a most prosperous 
issue, and the pastor was thenceforward a sove- 
reign, who reigned so triumphantly and absolute- 
ly, that his word was law. This power was ex- 
ercised in a manner worthy of a Christian guide, 
and particularly in one instance. The Roman 
Catholic bishop of Embrun had some territorial 
rights in the valley of Fressiniere ; but such was 



NEFF IN AGRICULTURE. 229 

the general unwillingness to permit any of his 
agents to exercise them, and to collect the dues, 
that his property in Dormilleuse and its contigu- 
ous villages added little or nothing to his reve- 
nues. What could the churchman do in a region 
where the persecutors of centuries had found a 
rampart thrown up against their oppression : 
where the blood-hounds of Louis the Fourteenth 
could pursue their chase no further : and where 
Napoleon himself was baffled when he attempted 
to fill up his conscript list with the youth of these 
mountains ? But what neither force nor strata- 
gem could effect, persuasion accomplished, and at 
NefTs request, the agents from Embrun made a 
return to the archepiscopal treasury to which it 
was totally unaccustomed.* 

The valley of Fressiniere, like the Ban de la 
Roche, had need of the potatoe, to supply the 
deficiencies of its native productions, and in ex- 
tension of the resemblance, it was cultivated so 
wretchedly, that both the quantity and quality 
were lamentably bad. The pastor would fain have 
put the people in the way of obtaining a better 
root, and more of it. But his proposed means 
were so foolish, according to their notions of hus- 
bandry, that before the aqueduct lesson, they 
thought they might just as well let their ground 
lie fallow, as throw it away upon his system. 
Their own mode was to set their plants so close 
to each other, that there was no room for growth 

* A similar anecdote is told of Oberlin (see Memoirs, p. 
195.) How unlike the proceedings in Ireland, where a 
popish bishop is encouraging the Roman Catholics to 
withhold their rights from Protestant claimants. 

20 



230 NEFF IN AGRICULTURE. 

or expansion, and not the slightest chance of be- 
ing able to weed the land, or to keep it clean with 
the crop upon it. In vain therefore were they 
recommended to set the plants at a proper dis- 
tance : they could not believe that they should 
get as much as their seed back again. NefT's ex- 
pedient to teach them wisdom partook of his usual 
decision. He devoted several days to traversing 
the valley in the planting season, and went into 
gardens and fields where they were setting pota- 
toes, and taking the hoe, or the spade out of the 
labourer's hands, he planted two or three rows 
himself. This was permitted with great reluc- 
tance : a few let them remain as he left them, 
others took them up, and set them again after 
their own fashion, as soon as his back was turned. 
But the next year the malcontents were too hap- 
py to learn their pastor's method ; they saw the 
astonishing increase which his row r s yielded, and 
the potatoe is now one of the most valuable pro- 
ductions of a soil, which gives but a scanty re- 
turn at the most. In Val Queyras, where the 
pastor had a garden of his own, his system was 
adopted earlier, when his neighbours saw him take 
up nine or ten tubercles from one plant, they 
were not easy until they had tried the same art of 
obtaining the same increase. 

We have seen upon more occasions than one, 
that our unwearied pastor was in the habit of go- 
ing out of his way to be useful. He was not sat- 
isfied with doing good as opportunities might 
arise ; but he sought and even made those oppor- 
tunities. Thus, in the case just related, he went 
through his hamlets, and searched through field 



THE FAIR OF ST. CREPIN. 231 

after field, that he might put the ignorant and ob- 
stinate peasants in the way of improving their 
mode of cultivation. He promoted their spiritu- 
al good by similar means. " Seeing the distress- 
ed state of so many poor souls," said he in one of 
his letters, " I sent for a hundred, copies of the 
tract, c Honey flowing from the Rock? On the 
23d they arrived, and on the 25th I repaired to 
St. Crepin, on the Durance, where they were then 
holding a fair, which brings together a great num- 
ber of the inhabitants of the province. I carried 
my packet to the inn, where I could obtain a room 
for half an hour only. This time, however, was 
sufficient for me to distribute my tracts, which 
were carried off in a few minutes. This book, 
small as it is, contains some excellent things for 
souls thirsting for eternal life ; and as I have al- 
ways distributed them prudently, they have sel- 
dom failed to produce good effects. All our friends 
of the high Alps carry it about with them, and 
we often see them in groups reading and com- 
menting on it, in the midst of the fields, or in the 
cross- ways of the villages. Several of them know 
it by heart, and quote from it entire passages very 
appropriately. I think I ought, on this occasion, 
to mention what I have long observed, that, a 
preacher of the Gospel would do well often to 
frequent fairs and great markets, where persons 
assemble from different parts. I there distribute 
many books and religious tracts, and I have op- 
portunities of communicating with the brethren 
of the different valleys, who are delighted with 
becoming acquainted with each other. 55 

It was thus, in his manifold schemes of useful- 



232 A PORTRAIT. 

ness, that Neff resembled the amiable and admira- 
ble pastor of the Ban de la Roche, whose character 
he took such pleasure in contemplating ; and had 
not the scene of his labours been so remote, and 
inaccessible, we might have had many such inter- 
esting anecdotes to communicate, as those which 
grace the memoirs of Oberlin. But in his widely 
extended parish, aud in his homeless mode of life, 
there was no one centre of attraction, like the par- 
sonage of Waldbach, to draw admiring strangers, 
whose letters or journals might have recorded 
many an incident, honourable both to the pastor 
and his flock, and might sooner have drawn the 
character of the self-denying and ever working 
minister out of its obscurity into beautiful relief. 
He was removed from life almost before he was 
appreciated; and assuredly there are many more 
such, even at this moment, and in our own coun- 
try, who are pursuing their noiseless course, as 
humble and indefatigable country clergyman, and 
who are living for others, while their sole motives 
are the sense of responsibility attached to their 
stations and means of usefulness, and the love of* 
God, working in them the purest love of their fel- 
low creatures. Many such as these, are acting 
their parts nobly, and are upholding the credit of 
their church, and are, in fact, the labourers in the 
vineyard, to whom thanks are due for the ingath- 
ering of the harvest, while the literary champions 
of the same church are running away with all the 
honour of being its supporters. 

At the moment I am writing this, my mind is 
full of the meritorious and self-denying services 
which a young clergyman who took the highest 



A PORTRAIT. 



233 



honours at Cambridge, is now rendering to the 
cause of religion, as a village curate in the west 
of England. If " Oxford" had not been the title 
of one of R. Montgomery's beautiful poems, in 
which the subject is introduced with all the force 
of poetry and truth, I should have thought that 
Mr, M. had been in his eye, when he composed 
the subjoined lines : — 

" Ah little know they, when the harsh declaim, 
Or folly leads to scorn a curate's name, 
In hamlets lone what lofty minds abound, 
To spread the smiles of charity around ! 
It was not that a frowning- chance denied 
An early wreath of honourable pride : 
In college rolls triumphantly they shine, 
And proudly Alma Mater calls them, mine ! 
But heav'nlier dreams than ever fame inspired 
Their spirits haunted, as the world retired : 
The fameless quiet of parochial care 
And sylvan home, their fancy stooped to share : 
And when arrived, no deeper bliss they sought 
Than that which undenying heaven had brought. 
On such, perchance, renown may never beam, 
Though oft it glittered in some college dream : 
But theirs the fame no worldly scenes supply, 
Who teach us how to live and how to die. " 

20* 



CHAPTER X. 



Neff's caution in the choice of his catechist. — Neff in his 
schools. — Works at the building of a scnool-room in 
Dormilleuse — Establishes and conducts a Normal school 
for the training* of catechists and schoolmasters — The 
difficulties of this undertaking— The farewell repast — 
Neff 5 s remarks on the characters of the young men of 
his adult school, and on the effects produced by it — Ob- 
servations on the state of public instruction in France. 

Very few men of Neff 's vehement and sanguine 
temperament have displayed a happier union of 
zeal and discretion. He seldom permitted his en- 
thusiasm to get the better of his judgment. When 
his influence was at its zenith, and the extraor- 
dinary improvement in the protestant population 
of Val Fressiniere would have led most persons 
to exult in their success, and to flatter themselves 
that such striking effects produced by their min- 
istry must be permanent, he distrusted appear- 
ances, anxiously revolved in his own mind the 
best means, of bringing his neophytes to ripeness 
and perfectness in Chiist. Instead of urging on 
such as desired to become his fellow-helpers and 
catechists, and accelerating their pace, he kept 
them in check, and endeavoured to convince them, 
that it was still a day of small things with them, 
and that they must undergo much preparation, 
before they could take upon themselves to guide 



ZEAL AND DISCRETION. 235 

others. Several young persons expressed an ar- 
dent wish to communicate the impressions which 
they themselves had received, and to hold little 
social meetings for that purpose. The pastor's 
decided opinion of the value of such meetings has 
already been noticed ; I shall now show that he 
tried to keep them under proper controul and su- 
perintendence, and that he did not give encour- 
agement to the effusions of zeal without knowl- 
edge. One of his Journals contains the following 
observations upon this subject. 

" Those who are dazzled by the first blaze of a 
new religious light, and who, imagining that zeal, 
however fervent, can supply the want of study 
and information, confide the most difficult part of 
God's work to persons, who have nothkig but 
their faith and spiritual experience to guide them, 
will not be long before they discover their mis- 
take. Nothing can be more erroneous. For my 
own part, I think the principle must be generally 
admitted, that knowledge and preparation are in- 
dispensably requisite for a labourer in the Lord's 
vineyard, that he may pursue his work efficacious- 
ly. He must combine sound discretion with fer- 
vent Christian piety. The truth of this has long 
been felt by me, but especially since my abode 
among these secluded people. Their profound 
ignorance is, at present, an insuperable obstacle 
to the usefulness of those who are most zealous, 
and who have the best inclinations." 

NerT has here said enough to confirm an opin- 
ion which I expressed in a former chapter,* as to 

* See Chapter V. 



236 ZEAL AND DISCRETION* 

the risk of encouraging prayer meetings, and sim- 
ilar associations, composed of promiscuous per- 
sons, under no influential guidance ; where all 
may speak, " those that are unlearned, or are un- 
believers, and where every one hath a psalm, 
hath a doctrine, hath a tongue, hath a revelation, 
hath an interpretation,"* and where there is no 
check upon those that are inclined to take a lead, 
whether qualified by character and attainments or 
not.f On the other hand nothing can be more 
conducive to piety and religious improvement, 
than well selected meetings of Christian friends, 
who devote certain portions of time to mutual 
conference and scriptural exposition, with pray- 
er. These are strong links of union and fellow- 
ship, and powerful helps and encouragements, 
which animate the individuals who form them, 
and carry them forward in their Christian pro- 
gress. 

In another place NefT complained that there 
was scarcely one in the whole valley who could 
read the pure French language with any tolera- 
ble degree of fluency, much less speak it. " They 
learn to read, and they profess to read, but they 
have very few books ; and it is the most disa- 
greeable thing in the world to hear them attempt to 
recite a passage in Scripture, with their discord- 
ant tones, and pronounciation. They pitch their 
voices so high, and their articulation, from bad 
habit, is so imperfect, that it is scarcely possible 
to understand them, when they utter any thing 

* 1 Cor. xiv. 23. 26. 

t Baxter called it "a sinful humouring* of rash profess- 
ors." 



NEFF IN HIS SCHOOLS. 237 

but their own patois. Even the schoolmasters, 
whom I ! have found in 'the mountain villages, 
would not be thought worthy of being classed 
above learners of rudiments in any other place." 

But what could be expected of functionaries, 
whose stipend was only twenty-four francs, or less 
than twenty shillings for the year: and of schol- 
ars, whose studies were always interrupted at the 
return of the open weather, and who were sent 
from their books to the flocks and herds, as soon 
as the snow was off the ground ? The pastor saw 
that every thing must be done by himself: that 
he must give lessons, not only in the first princi- 
ples of religion, but in the elements of ordinary 
scholarship, and that he must condescend to be- 
come an Abecedarian, before he could lay a good 
foundation of sound religious learning. With his 
usual unbroken perseverance he went to work, de- 
termined to give primary instruction to all, to 
old as well as young 5 to as many as were willing 
to be taught to read. But it was first necessary 
that he should make himself thorough master of 
the provincial dialect of the country, and in this 
he succeeded. 

The unweared diligence with which NefT de- 
voted himself to the acquirement of the patois 
of Dauphine, is one of the efforts most creditable 
both to his judgment and his powers of applica- 
tion. It is recorded of Irenaeus, the first Protest- 
ant bishop, (as that prelate may fairly be called, 
who first rebuked the bishop of Rome for his un- 
catholic spirit, in attempting to lord it over God's 
heritage,) that he learned the language of the 
province, before he preached Christ in these Al- 



238 NEFF IN HIS SCHOOLS. 

pine regions. Every body feels his reverence for 
the apostolical Heber increased upon reading 
KohlhofFs account of his confirming the Tamul 
congregation in their own language. " After the 
conclusion of the sermon, he pronounced the 
blessing in Tamul, from the altar, correctly and 
distinctly, to the great supprise and joy of the 
whole native congregation. Fifty of the native 
congregation were confirmed by him in the Tamul 
language. The correctness with which he pro- 
nounced every word in Tamul, was not only strik- 
ing, but will be always remembered by our native 
Christians, as a proof of the apostolic spirit which 
was in him, a proof of his fervent zeal and bene- 
volent disposition to promote the eternal welfare, 
not only of the Europeans, but also of the poor 
natives." The humble pastor of the Alps is 
entitled to the same praise in all the churches. 

Behold the preacher sourrounded by his classes 
in a miserable stable, correcting the tone of one, 
the pronunciation of another, and the articulation 
of a third : patiently dinning sounds and sense 
into their ears, and making them spell the words, 
and divide by syllables, and repeat sentences 
again and again, until he had put them into 
something like a fair training. Behold him also, 
to keep his pupils in good humour, and to mingle 
something pleasing with the dull routine of read- 
ing and spelling, putting aside his books, and 
giving lessons in music. This was a most suc- 
cessful as well as agreeable expedient ; it was 
soon found that the best singers were also the 
best readers, and application to the more attrac- 



RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 239 

tive lesson was usually accompanied by proficien- 
cy in the duller acquirement. 

There was another scheme of the pastor which 
answered admirably well, and displayed the re- 
sources of his active mind. The inhabitants of 
Val Queyras were the best instructed, and the 
most ready scholars : those of Fressiniere 
were the most devout Christians ; he therefore 
judged that it would tend to their mutual improve- 
ment, if he could transplant a few of the well 
informed of the former into the villages of the 
latter, and employ their services as his assistants 
in the schools. " I hoped," said he, " that in 
exchange for their human learning, they would 
bring back from the valley of Fressiniere some of 
the more precious knowledge which makes one 
wise unto salvation." He was not deceived ; 
Andrew Vasserati of Molines, and Stephen Mat- 
thew of San Veran, an others who went to Dor- 
milleuse and Minsas, were so pricked to the heart 
by the simple and fervent piety of the young 
people, whom they were employed to instruct, 
that they returned to their homes exactly in that 
frame of mind which NerT anticipated, and they 
endeavoured to inspire in others the feelings 
which they themselves had acquired. 

It was thus among the grandest and sternest 
features of mountain scenery, that NerT not only 
found food for his own religious contemplations, 
and felt that his whole soul was filled with the 
majesty of the ever present God, but here also he 
discovered, that religious impressions were more 
readily received, and retained more deeply than 
elsewhere by others. In this rugged field of rock 



240 THE SCHOOL ROOM. 

and ice, the Alpine summit, and its glittering 
pinnacles, the eternal snows and glaciers, the 
appalling cleTts and abysses, the mighty cataract, 
the rushing waters, the frequent perils of avalan- 
ches and of tumbling rocks, the total absence of 
every soft feature of nature, were always 
reading an impressive lesson, and illustrating 
the littleness of man, and the greatness of the 
Almighty. 

The happy result of his experiments, made the 
pastor feel anxious to, have a more convenient 
place for his scholastic exertions than a dark and 
dirty stable; and here again the characteristic 
and never-failing energies of his mind were fully 
displayed. The same hand which had been em- 
ployed in regulating the interior arrangements of 
a church, in constructing aqueducts and canals 
of irrigation, and in the husband man's work of 
sowing and planting, was now turned to the labour 
of building a school-room. He persuaded each 
family in Dormilleuse to furnish a man, who 
should consent to work under his directions, and 
having first marked out the spot with line and 
plummet, and levelled the ground, he marched 
at the head of his company to the torrent, and 
selected stones fit for the building. The pastor 
placed one of the heaviest upon his shoulders — 
the others did the same, and away they went with 
their burthens, toiling up the steep aclivity, till 
they reached the site of the proposed building. 
This labour was continued until the materials 
were all ready at hand ; the walls then began to 
rise, and in one week from the first commence- 
ment, the exterior masonry work was completed, 



THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 241 

and the roof was put upon the room. The 
windows, chimmey, door, tables, and seats, were 
not long before they also were finished. A con- 
venient stove added its accommodation to the 
apartment, and Dormilleuse, for the first time 
probably in its history, saw a public school-room 
erected, and the process of instruction conduc- 
ted with all possible regularity and comfort. 

I had the satisfaction of visiting and inspecting 
this monument of Neff's judicious exertions for 
his dear Dormilleusians — but it was amelancholly 
pleasure. The shape, the dimensions, the materi- 
als of the room, the chair on which he sat, the 
floor which had been lain in part by his own 
hands, the window-frame and desks, at which he 
had worked with cheerful alacrity, were all ob- 
jects of intense interest, and I gazed on these rel- 
ics of " the Apostle of the Alps," with feelings 
little short of veneration. It was here that he 
sacrificed his life. The severe winters of 1826-7, 
and the unremitted attention which he paid to his 
duties, more especially to those of his school-room, 
were his death-blow. 

The course of the narrative, which I proposed 
to myself as being best calculated to illustrate 
Neff's singular character, and the very important 
nature of his labours, now brings me to what may 
be considered his crowning work, — the system 
by which he trained adults, and taught them how 
to teach. It was so in every sense of the word ; 
it was his most difficult, and his most unpleasant 
but at the same time his most necessary work, 
anxious as he was to leave permanent effects of 
his ministry behind him, when he should be re- 
21 



250 THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

moved from that scene of action ; and it was his 
last, for it broke up his shattered constitution, and 
hastened his death. But before 1 permit myself 
to dwell with delighted admiration on the wisdom 
of this complement of his pastoral career, I must 
let him give his own account of the motives which 
induced him to undertake the severest of all 
drudgery. 

" I foresaw with sorrow," said he, " that the 
Gospel, which I had been permitted to preach in 
these mountains, would not only not spread, but 
might even be lost, unless something should be 
done to promote its continuance. I bethought 
me how it might be preserved in some degree 5 
and after mature deliberation I determined to 
become a training master, and to form a winter 
school, composed of the most intelligent and well 
disposed young men of the different villages of my 
parish, more particularly of those, who, notwith- 
standing their lamentable ignorance, had already 
determined to become teachers. Many of these 
aspirants to the scholastic office were in the habit 
of leaving their mountain homes in the winter, to 
open schools in the warmer and more sheltered 
hamlets, and of returning in the spring to culti- 
vate their own little heritages. I communicated 
my design to the most sanguine of these, and they 
entered into the spirit of it most joyfully. But I 
foresaw that the execution of the plan would en- 
tail expences such as my poor mountaineers, 
who expatriate themselve during the winter 
season to obtain a precarious subsistence, could 
by no means incur. I therefore wrote to some 
friends at Geneva, who generously promised to 



THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 251 

promote my views, and to send some remittances 
in aid of them*. Dormilleuse was the spot which 
I choose for my scence of action, on account of 
its seclusion, and because its whole population is 
Protestant, and a local habitation was already 
provided here for the purpose. I reckoned at first 
that I should have about a dozen eleves ; but find- 
ing that they were rapidly offering themselves, 
and would probably amount to double that num- 
ber, at the least, I thought it right to engage an 
assistant, not only that I might be at liberty to 
go and look after my other churches and villages, 
but that I might not be exposed to any molesta- 
tion, for in France nobody can lawfully exercise 
the office of a schoolmaster without a license, and 
this cannot be granted either to a foreigner or a 
pastor. For these reasons I applied to Ferdinand 
Martin, who was then pursuing his studies at 
Mens, to qualify himself for the institution of M. 
Olivier, in Paris. It was a great sacrifice on his 
part to interrupt his studies, and to lose the op- 
portunity of an early admission to the institution ; 
nor was it a small matter to ask him to come and 
take up his residence at the worst season of the 
year, in the midst of the ice and frightful rocks of 
Dormilleuse. But he was sensible of the impor- 
tance of the work, and, without any hesitation, 
he joined our party at the beginning of Novem- 

* I believe Mr. Gaussen who is now 60 actively promo- 
ting- the new academical institution at Geneva, was one 
of these friends ; and that the lady who has assisted me 
in the compilation of this memoir, by lending me Neff's 
Journals, was greatly instrumental in raising 1 funds in Eng- 
land in aid of our pastor's plans. 



244 THE NORMAL SCHOOL. 

ber. The short space of time which we had be- 
fore us, rendered every moment precious. We 
divided the day into three parts. The first was 
from sunrise to eleven o'clock, when we break- 
fasted. The second from noon to sunset, when 
we supped. The third from supper till ten or 
eleven o'clock at night, making in all fourteen or 
fifteen hours of study in the twenty-four. We 
devoted much of this time to lessons in reading, 
which the wretched manner in which they had 
been taught, their detestable accent, and strange 
tone of voice, rendered a most necessary, but 
tiresome duty. The grammar, too, of which not 
one of them had the least idea, occupied much of 
our time. People who have been brought up in 
towns, have no conception of the difficulty which 
mountaineers and rustics, whose ideas are confin- 
ed to those objects only to which they have been 
familiarized, find in learning this branch of science. 
There is scarcely any way of conveying the 
meaning of it to them. All the usual terms and 
definitions, and the means which are commonly 
employed in schools, are utterly unintelligible 
here. But the curious and novel devices which 
must be employed, have this advantage, — that 
they exercise their understanding, and help to 
form their judgment. Dictation was one of the 
methods to which I had recourse : without it 
they would have made no progress in grammar 
or orthography ; but they wrote so miserably, 
and slowly, that this consumed a great portion of 
valuable time. Observing that they were ignor- 
ant of the signification of a great number of 
French words, of constant use and recurrence, I 



neff's method of teaching. 245 

made a selection from the vocabulary, and I set 
them to write down in little copy-books,* words 
which were in most frequent use ; but the ex- 
planations contained in the dictionary were not 
enough, and I was obliged to rack my brain for 
new and brief definitions which they could un- 
derstand, and to make them transcribe these. 
Arithmetic was another branch of knowledge 
w 7 hich required many a weary hour. Geography 
was considered a matter of recreation after din- 
ner : and they pored over the maps with a feeling 
of delight and amusement which was quite new 
to them. I also busied myself in giving them 
some notions of the sphere, and of the form and 
motion of the earth ; of the seasons and the cli- 
mates, and of the heavenly bodies. Every thing 
of this sort was as perfectly novel to them, as it 
would have been to the islanders of Otaheite ; 
and even the elementary books, which are usually 
put into the hands of children, were at first as 
unintelligible as the most abtruse treatises on 
mathematics. I was consequently forced to use 
the simplest and plainest modes of demonstra- 
tion ; but these amused and instructed them at 
the same time. A ball made of the box tree, with 
a hole through it, and moving on an axle, and on 
which I had traced the principal circles ; some 
large potatoes hollowed out ; a candle, and some- 
times the skulls of my scholars, served for the 

* They have no slates in this country — nor in the val- 
leys of the Piemont. — Two benevolent benefactors to the 
Protestant cause in Italy, who wished to confer a benefit 
upon the schools of Piemont, have enabled me to supply 
the Vaudois schools with this useful an economical article. 
21* 



246 neff's method of teaching. 

instruments, by which I illustrated the movement 
of the heavenly bodies, and of the earth itself. 
Proceeding from one step to another, I pointed 
out the situation of different countries on the 
chart of the world, and in separate maps, and 
took pains to give some slight idea, as we went 
on, of the characteristics, religion, customs, and 
history of each nation. These details fixed topics 
of moment in their recollection. Up to this time 
I had been astonished by the little interest they 
took, Christian-minded as they were, in trie sub- 
ject of Christian missions, but, when they began 
to have some idea of geography, I discovered, 
that their former ignorance of this science, and of 
the very existence of many foreign nations in- 
distant quarters of the globe, was the cause of 
such indifference. But as soon as they began to 
learn who the peeple are, who require to have 
the Gospel preached to them, and in what part of 
the globe they dwell, they felt the same concern 
for the circulation of the Gospel that other Chris- 
tians entertained. " These new acquirements, in 
fact, enlarged their spirit, made new creatures of 
them, and seemed to triple their very existence. 

" In the end, I advanced so far as to give some 
lectures in geometry, and this too produced a hap- 
py moral developement. 

" Lessons in music formed part of our evening 
employment, and those being, like geography, a 
sort of amusement, they were regularly succeed- 
ed by grave and edifying reading, and by such re- 
flections as I took care to suggest for their im- 
provement. 

" Most of the young adults of the village were 



SELF-DENIAL. 247 

present at such lessons, as were within the reach 
of their comprehension, and as the children had 
a separate instructor, the young women and 
girls of Dormilleuse, who were growing up to 
womanhood, were now the only persons for whom 
a system of instruction was unprovided. But 
these stood in as great need of it as the others, 
and more particularly as most of them were now 
manifesting Christian dispositions. I therefore 
proposed that they should assemble of an evening 
in the room, which the childien occupied during 
the day, and I engaged some of my students to 
give them lessons in reading and writing. We 
soon had twenty young women from fifteen to 
twenty-five years of age in attendance, of whom 
two or three only had any notion of writing, and 
not half them could read a book of any difficulty. 
While Ferdinand Martin was practising the rest 
of my students in music, I myself and two of the 
most advanced, by turns, were employed in teach- 
ing these young women, so that the whole routine 
of instruction went on regularly, and I was thus 
able to exercise the future schoolmasters in their 
destined profession, and both to observe their 
method of teaching, and to improve it. I thus 
superintended teachers and scholars at the same 
time." 

It is quite impossible for those who have 
not seen the country, to appreciate the devoted- 
ness to the Christian cause, which could induce 
Neff to entertain even the thought of making the 
dreary and savage Dormilleuse his own head 
quarters from November to April, and of persuad- 
ing others to be the companions of his dismal 



248 SELF-DENIAL. 

sojournment there. I learn from a memorandum 
in his Journal, that the severity of that winter 
commenced early. " We have been in snow and 
ice since the first of November, on this steep and 
rugged spot, whose aspect is more terrible and 
severe than any thing can be supposed to be in 
France." He himself was the native of a delight- 
ful soil and climate, and even some of the moun- 
taineers, whom he drew to that stern spot, were 
inhabitants of a far less repulsive district, but 
had yet made it their custom to seek a milder 
region than their own, during the inclemency of 
an Alpine winter. To secure attendance and ap- 
plication, when once his students were embarked 
in their undertaking, he selected this rock, where 
neither amusement, nor other occupations, nor the: 
possibility of frequent egress or regress, could 
tempt them to interrupt their studies : — and he 
had influence enough to induce them to commit 
themselves to a five months' rigid confinement 
within a prison-house, as it were, walled up with 
ice and snow. Nothing can be compared to the 
resolution and self-denial of the volunteers, who 
enrolled their names under NefF for this service, 
but the similar qualities, which were called into 
action by our own gallant officers and seamen, 
who embarked in the polar expeditions, with the 
certainty before them of being snowed or iced up 
during many months of privation. In their case 
the hope of promotion and of reputation, and the 
ardour of scientific research, were the moving in- 
ducement. In that of the pastor and his young 
friends, a sense of duty, and thoughts fixed on 
heavenly things constituted the impulse. To NefT 



SELF-DENIAL. 249 

himself it was a season of incessant toil, and that 
of the most irksome kind. He did violence to his 
natural inclination every way. His mind and 
body were kept in subjection. He was devoted to 
his profession, as a minister and preacher of the 
Gospel, and yet he suspended the pursuits, which 
were more congenial to his tastes and habits, and 
went back to first principles, and consented to 
teach the simplest rudiments, and meekly sunk 
down to the practice of the humblest elementary 
drudgery, when he saw the necessity of laying a 
foundation for a system of instruction different to 
that, which had hitherto prevailed in this neglect- 
ed region. His patience, his humility, his good- 
humour and perseverance, his numberless expedi- 
ents to expand the intellect of his pupils, to store 
their minds, and to keep up a good understanding 
among them, are all subjects of admiration, which 
it is beyond the power of language to express. 
Whose heart does not warm towards this true 
disciple of the good Shepherd, who thus followed 
his Divine Master's path, and gathered the lambs 
with his arm, and carried them in his bosom, and 
gently led them : this amiable teacher, who prac- 
tised all the lessons he taught on the first day of 
the week, and rose with the morning sun of the 
six other days, to pursue his routine of active 
benevolence, — this wise master builder, who saw 
that the spiritual condition of his Church would 
be improved, by laying a foundation for the high 
and holy things^of the Gospel, with the precious 
stones of common-place information : who pre- 
pared the minds of his flock for the reception and 
comprehension of sacred truths, by giving them 



242 THE YOUNG CATECHISTS. 

an insight into those secrets of knowledge, which 
some are weak enough to imagine are too pro- 
found for the simple, and too attractive for the 
religious. 

The young men who submitted to their pastor's 
system of discipline at Dormilleuse, must have 
their share also of our admiration. We cannot 
but feel respect for students, who willingly shut 
themselves up amidst the most comfortless scenes 
in nature, and submitted to the severity of not less 
than fourteen hours of hard study a day, where 
the only recreation was to go from dryer lessons 
to lectures in geography and music. It was a 
long probation of hardship. Their fare was in 
strict accordance with the rest of their situation. 
It consisted of a store of salted meat, and rye 
bread, which had been baked in autunm, and 
when they came to use it, was so hard, that it re- 
quired to be chopped up with hatchets, and to be 
moistened with hot water. Meal and flour will 
not keep in this mountain atmosphere, but would 
become mouldy, — they are, therefore, obliged to 
bake it soon after the corn is threshed out. Our 
youthful anchorites were lodged gratuitously by 
the people of Dormilleuse, who also liberally sup- 
plied them with wood for fuel, scarce as it was, 
but if the pastor had not laid in a stock of pro- 
visions, the scanty resources of the village could 
not have met the demands of so many mouths, in 
addition to its native population. The party con- 
sisted of five from Val Queyras, one from Vars, 
five from Champsaur, two from Chancelas, four 
from the lower part of the valley of Fressiniere, 



THE SEPARATION. 243 

and eight from the immediate neighbourhood of 
Dormiileuse. 

Neff had the satisfaction to find that his plan 
answered well, and this was reward enough. " I 
never," said he, " can be sufficiently thankful to 
Almighty God for the blessing which he has 
vouchsafed to shed upon this undertaking, and for 
the strength he has given me to enable me to bear 
the fatigue of it. Oh ! may he continue to extend 
his gracious protection, and to support me under 
my infirmities, or rather, to deliver me from them, 
that I may be able to devote myself to his service 
<tnd glory, to my life's end !" 

A note of the expenditure upon this occasion 
will excite some wonder in the minds of many 
readers, who are not aware how much good may 
be done at a small cost, when the stream of boun- 
ty is made to pass through proper channels. 

"Our disbursements for the adult school, in- 
cluding candles, ink, and paper, the salary of an 
assistant master, and food for the sixteen or sev- 
enteen students who came from a distance, did 
not exceed 560 francs (about 22Z. 10s.) for four 
months. Of this sum I can replace a little more 
than two-thirds, because some of the students 
have repaid their share of the expense, and even 
the poorest furnished their quota of bread. We 
did not provide commons for those who belonged 
to Dormiileuse, because they boarded at home." 

The separation of this little party is not the 
least interesting part in the history of their pro- 
ceedings. Towards Easter, the opening spring 
gave the sigual for their return to their several 
communes, and the studies of the school-room 



252 THE FAREWELL SUPPER. 

gave place to manual labour in the fields and 
woods. The breaking up of society, which had 
been united by the strongest ties of mutual re- 
spect and affection, could not be contemplated 
without feelings of reluctance on all sides — but it 
was an event which was regarded with peculiar 
regret by the inhabitants of the secluded Dormil- 
leuse. It was a perfect epoch in its history to 
have received in its bosom a company of young 
men, who, though they were of grave habits and 
serious demeanour, yet gave a dash of unwonted 
cheerfulness to the dull routine of Alpine life. 
To see them in the village sanctuary, to hear 
their voices at the close of day, and to listen to 
the swelling harmony, when their evening hymn 
of praise was raised to the throne of the Most 
High, to receive them in their humble dwellings, 
and to meet them by the torrent side, when the 
weather would permit themto take exercise — these 
were so many incidents to change the sameness 
of their usually unvaried existence, and the day, 
on which they were to bid farewell to their guests, 
was one of painful anticipation to the Dormilleu- 
sians. On the evening before they took their 
leave, the young men of the village prepared a 
supper for their new friends, and invited them 
to the parting banquet. It was a simple and a 
frugal repast, consisting of the productions of the 
chase. The bold hunter contributed his salted 
chamois, the less enterprising sportsman of the 
mountain laid a dried marmot upon the table, 
and one or two of the most successful rangers of 
the forest, produced a bear's ham, as a farewell 
offering in honour of the last evening, on which 



THE FAREWELL SUPPER. 253 

the conversation of this interesting group was to 
be enjoyed. It was at the same time a pleasing, 
and a melancholy festival, but I do not find, in 
the pastor's Journal, that either the achievments 
of their ancestors, who had garrisoned this rocky 
citadel, and had repulsed numberless attempts to 
storm it, or the exploits of the chasseurs, who had 
furnished the festive board, formed the conversa- 
tion of the evening. It seems to have savoured 
rather of the object, which originally brought 
them together, and when one of the party re- 
marked, — " What a delightful sight, to behold 
so many young friends met togther — but it is 
not likely that we shall ever meet all together 
again !" The pastor took the words up like a 
text, and enlarged upon the consolatory thought, 
that though they might see each other's faces no 
more in this life, they would most assuredly meet 
again in a joyful state of existence in the world 
to come, if they would persevere in their Christian 
course. He then gave them a parting benedic- 
tion, and, after a long and mournful silence, 
which each seemed unwilling to interrupt, either 
by uttering the dreaded good-bye, or moving 
from his seat, the valedictory words and embraces 
passed from one to another, and they separated. 
The next morning at an early hour, they were 
seen winding down the mountain path to their 
several homes ; they of Dormilleuse gazed after 
them till their figures were lost in the distance, 
and the village on the rock appeared more dreary 
and desolate than ever. 

NefTleft behind him some remarks touching 
the progress which these students made, and their 
22 



254 PROGRESS MADE BY NEFF's STUDENTS. 

several capacities, and dispositions, from which I 
select the following passages. 

" With regard to the improvement which I ob- 
served, this varied according to the character of 
the individuals. The greater part of them were 
so illiterate and so raw, and the time was so short, 
that it did not suffice for the inculcation of the first 
elements of human knowledge. But yet we had 
seven or eight, who will, I trust, answer the pro- 
posed object, that is to say, they will become 
qualified to discharge the functions of village 
catechists, and to diffuse around them the pre- 
cious knowledge of Jesus Christ. As many 
more, without taking upon themselves the same 
office, will consecrate the knowledge they have 
acquired to the glory of God : and the rest, 
though less advanced, will yet be likely to profit 
in every respect by the information they have 
picked up, and by the edifying things which they 
have learnt. Two young women of Dormilleuse, 
(Anna Maria Arnouf, and Susannah Baridon,) 
have made very great progress, and will be ex- 
tremely useful to the Sunday-school, which has 
been established in their village. They are the 
centre and soul of a religious life to all in Dormil- 
leuse, and even in the other hamlets of the valley, 
by means of the religious correspondence which 
they keep up with many persons, whom they 
have never seen. Many others have persevering- 
ly continued to seek for the kingdom of God and 
his righteousness. Hitherto none of my young 
eleves have been placed out as regular school- 
masters, because the schools are not open in the 
summer-time, but many of them preside over 



ANDREW VASSEROTTI. £55 

Sunday-schools, which now begin to take in this 
country. At Arvieux in Val Queyras, Barthelimi 
Albert of Brunichard, aged nineteen, who is lame 
in both feet, but in other respects strong and 
healthy, and intelligent, and gifted with a good 
ear for music, (a very rare accomplishment in 
these mountains) reads and sings in the church 
at Arvieux, and performs two services* at Bruni- 
chard every Sunday. He will also be at the head 
of the Sunday-school which I hope to establish 
there. This youth contends firmly against the 
apathy and rudeness of his companions, and 
against the levity of some young men who bring 
from Marseilles, (where they generally go to work 
during the winter) some of the corruption of a 
populous city. He does much to confirm the 
good intentions of those who are well disposed. 
At San Veran, Chaffrey Matthew and Joseph 
Jouve, take charge of the public services and the 
Sunday-school. The latter is clever and well 
informed, and has a great deal of originality of 
character and firmness of purpose : during the 
winter he advanced rapidly in spiritual attain- 
ments, and from being proud and self-willed, is 
become a faithful follower of the Lamb of God. 
Daniel Isnel, also of San Veran, who intends to 
be a schoolmaster, is about fifteen years old, and 
is going to Languedoc, to place himself under a 
relation who is following this vocation, continues 
to manifest an excellent disposition, without being 

* In all the Protestant churches of France and Italy, a 
great part of the public service, such as reading the chap- 
ters and the commandments, and. giving out and leading 
the psalms, is regularly performed by laymen. 



256 



THE BARIDONS. 



a very great proficient as yet. Stephen Matthew, 
whom they wish to retain at Mens as precentor, 
when he accompanied me there on his last visit, 
is the most promising youth of his village, and I 
have reason to hope, that he will be the means of 
spreading the light of the Gospel, wherever he 
goes. At Fousillarde, Andrew Vasserotti performs 
three Sunday services, and holds two meetings 
during the week. He sings well, reads impres- 
sively, expresses himself fluently, even in French, 
and but for some few defects of style, would fre- 
quently be thought to be a regular preacher. 
The valley of Fressiniere, to my great astonish- 
ment, has not furnished a single individual, who 
is even moderately gifted. Even those, who in 
the ordinary affairs of life, and in matters purely 
spiritual, manifest great judgment, are incapable 
of acquiring a knowledge of any of the sciences. 
Notwithstanding all the pains I have taken with 
them, and their own application, their progress is 
by no means satisfactory. The most intelligent 
of them is James Baridon of Dormilleuse, who 
until lately, was only distinguished for his great 
bodily strength, and the violence of his character, 
and the irregularity of his conduct. From the 
time that he began to frequent our school, he be- 
came a changed man, and has been doing all he 
can to edify others ; but his past life prevents his 
gaining the confidence of his neighbours, and I 
think it would be a good thing if he would take 
himself away for a short time. Peter Baridon, 
also of Dormilleuse, is perhaps the most steady 
and Christian-minded youth of the whole village; 



ALEXANDER VALON. 257 

it is he who has undertaken the charge of the 
boys' Sunday-school there. 

; ' At Minsas, the two brothers Besson, and at 
Violins, John Baridon, have opened Sunday- 
schools, and evening meetings. Francis . Bertho- 
lon of La Ribe, the first-born of the valley, at- 
tended the school during the winter, but he des- 
pises all human acquirements ; I know not why, 
and regrets the time he has spent in them. This 
is the more to be lamented, because with his zeal 
and Christian attainments, he would be able to do 
much good, if he would make himself master of 
the languages, and would learn to read better. 
Champsaur sent us five students, and my assis- 
tant master, Ferdinand Martin, who has since 
taken his departure for Paris. If he is well en- 
couraged and directed, he will make rapid pro- 
gress in all his studies. He is beloved and re- 
gretted wherever he has been, and especially in 
his native valley. One of the most promising 
youths of Champsaur is Peter Albert, who burns 
to consecrate himself to the ministry — but his 
relations, though they are rich, will probably 
refuse their consent. But the most surprising 
person is Alexander Valon of St. Laurent, who, 
previously to last autumn, made a boast of being 
the wildest and most profligate man in all that 
country. He had even suffered imprisonment for 
eight months, for nearly killing a man. He* is 
now at the head of the Lord's work in Champ- 
saur, and supplies the place of Ferdinand Martin. 

*Neff's great prudence and discernment induce me to 
hope, that he was not deceived in the change wrought in 
this person. 

•22* 



258 JOHN ROSTAN. 

His former companions scarcely recognise him as 
the same person. He passed the winter with us, 
and though he is now thirty-three years of age, 
the progress he made was very extraordinary. 
He reads remarkably well, and will make a good 
schoolmaster. He has already had several places 
offered to him. The valley of Vars,* between 
Guillestre and Barcelonette, contains but very 
few Protestants, and sent us only one student, 
John Rostan, aged eighteen, of a very decided 
character, and of good abilities ; he will either 
go to Paris and place himself under M. Olivier, 
or he will become a schoolmaster. There is an- 
other very deserving young man at Vars, Peter 

* Brockeden's animated description will help the reader 
to comprehend the nature of the country about Vars, 
which I had not an opportunity of visiting myself. 

" The descent of the Col de Vars is gradual over a fine 
pasturage, thence passing through St. Marie, and the 
village of Vars, the traveller descends the mountain brow, 
between the valleys of the Vars and D'Eserans, and a 
magnificent scene opens upon him of Guillestre, and the 
fort of Mount Dauphin, the, valley of the Durance, and 
the mountains covered with glaciers, which flank the Col 
de Lautaret. 

" From Barcellenette, a path by the Col de la Vachere, 
leads across the mountains to Enbrun, but the chemin 
royal, as Bourcet calls it, lies by the course of the Ubaye, 
though in many places not a vestige of a chemin remains, 
for the violence of the Ubaye, and the streams which fall 
into it, is so great in the winter, as to leave the entire val- 
ley for miles a bed of stones and black mud. After cross- 
ing a hill, and descending a zig-zag road at the pass of 
La Tour, in losing sight of Laurent, all is again sterile. 
On looking back, the deep course of the Ubaye is seen 
issuing from the defile of La Tour, and the grand forms 
of the mountain of Gugulion des Trois Eveques, present 
a scene which is savage, mountainous, and dreary." 



THE COLPORTEURS. 259 

Tolosan, who is a cultivator of land in the sum- 
mer, and a colporteur, or pedlar, in the winter, 
travelling the country about Nismes. He has the 
resolution to avoid that species of falsehood, 
which most men practise in his line of life, and 
to demand a fixed price for his articles. At first, 
after making this determination, he sold nothing, 
but by persevering in it, he has had better custom 
than others in the same business, so that many of 
them have been obliged to follow his practice." 

I cannot bring this chapter, on Neff's scholas- 
tic labours, to a conclusion, without offering some 
remarks upon the state of education in France, 
and the difficulty of putting any system of national 
education on a firm and good footing there. " To 
establish a new school," says Vincent in his Vues 
sur le Protestantism in France *, " is a work of 
enormous labour, in which patience the most per- 
severing must not always expect to succeed. It 
is necessary to create schoolmasters. We have 
absolutely none. It is necessary to know how 
to teach, and therefore Normal, or Model, Schools 
we must have for the instruction of Schoolmasters 
in which they may be made acquainted with the 
best methods of imparting khowledge : in a word, 
in which themselves may learn the most difficult 
of all arts, the art of teaching." It was this that 
Neff undertook to do, at a time when the attempt 
was more arduous, than at the period when Vin- 
cent published his work, (in 1829,) for the parti- 
pretre, which had been opposing every compre- 
hensive system of education, was then on the de- 

* Vol ii. p. 32 



260 EDUCATION IN FRANCE. 

cline. This writer has stated, on the authority of 
M. Soulier's Statisque, that the scarcity of Protes- 
tant schools was so great, that on an average, 
there was only one school for 2857 Protestants. 
or supposing that each school contained thirty 
scholars, a population of one hundred, reckoning 
by round numbers, would only have one scholar. 
M. Vincent allows for some exaggeration in this 
statement, but with every allowance it shows how 
want of funds, want of zeal, and want of well- 
qualified instructors, have combined to keep the 
inhabitants of that country, which professes to be 
the most civilized in the world, in a state of the 
most woeful neglect. A still more recent publi- 
cation*, complains not only that France ranks 
considerably below England, Switzerland, great 
part of Germany, and of the north of Europe, 
Holland, and North America, in the scale of 
nations, where provision is made for public edu- 
cation, but that there is scarcely any country, ex- 
cept Spain and Portugal, and others where the Ro- 
manism of the middle ages still prevails, which 
does nor rise above her, It then states that more 
than two thirds of the entire French population are 
unable to read ; that in many departments there 
are whole villages, where not more than three or 
four of the inhabitants can read, and that accord- 
ing to the official roports of the Minister of Pub- 
lic Instruction, there are a great many communes, 
where there are no elemantary schools. In the 
pursuit of this interesting inquiry, the Semeur, 
quotes the statistical table, of M. C. Dupin to 

* The Semeur of November, 1831, 



EDUCATION IN FRANCE* 261 

show that Great Britian, with a population less 
by half than that of France, has more scholars in 
her gratuitous Sunday schools only, than France 
in all her schools put together, and concludes with 
the observation, that the difference between the 
state of education in those parts of the kingdom 
which are Protestant, and those which are Roman 
Catholic, is something enormous. Such is the 
condition of France revolutionary, France scepti- 
cal, France Roman Catholic, France refined and 
philosophic, when compared with countries under 
the influence of more steady and more scriptural 
religious principles. " Wherever the true princi- 
ples of the Gospel are obscured," says the same 
journal*, " either by scepticism or by Romish 
superstition, there intellectual progress is retarded, 
and we may lay it down as a general rule, with all 
the precision of a mathematical problem, that na- 
tional instruction, and the number of scholars va- 
ry in every country, in a direct ratio with the in- 
fluence of the Gospel, and in an inverse ratio with 
the influence of Popery and monkery, or with 
sceptical philosophy." The Semeur assigns the 
highest rank in the scale of educated nations to 
Protestant Scotland : but the Protestant population 
of the Valleys of Piemont may take an equally, if 
not a more honourable place still, for there provi- 
sion is made for the elementary instruction of ev- 
ery child, without any exception : and from all 
that I can collect, it is a very rare case of neglect 
on the part of the parents, if a single child can be 
found among the Waldensian peasantry, of age 
sufficient to learn, who cannot read. 

♦The Semeur. 



262 THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER. 

In fact it has been reserved for Protestantism 
only, to produce what the wise and the good of 
all ages and countries have desired to see, namely 
an entire population furnished with the means of 
receiving education. The Gospel in its pure form 
has done what philosohpy and philanthropy have 
made the subject of their eulogies, and of their 
recommendation, but have never been able to 
achieve ; it has raised up a race of men, who 
have consecrated themselves to the task of making 
others acquainted with the most valuable part of 
their own knowledge, and have laboured to do so 
not in the graceful walks of the refined, the 
clever, and the docile, but in the haunts of the 
squalid, the dull, and the intractable. It was for 
the sages of old, to attract admiration, and to add 
to their fame by lecturing to young patricians, 
on the popular literature of their day, and it is 
for the learned and liberal of our own times, to 
praise and to patronize, and to promote by their 
writings, and by their open purses, the systems 
of instruction, which they think will be extensive- 
ly useful. None however, but such men as Ob- 
erlin and NefF, none but those who, like them, have 
been under the strong influence of Christian mo- 
tives, have ever done violence to their natural 
tastes and inclinations, and have left the more a- 
greeable.and equally legitimate duties of their pro- 
fession, to assume the functions of the humble 
pedagogue and of the village dame, and to teach 
the lowest rudiments to the lowest poor 5 not be- 
fore the admiring eyes of the world, but in seclu- 
sion, and amidst all the disheartening circumstan- 
ces of dirt and stench, of chilling cold or suff 



THE CHRISTIAN TEACHER. 263 

ting heat. Those who profess to be the benefac- 
tors of their country, and the utilitarians of the 
day, whose names are constantly before the pub- 
lic, and who run away with all the praise of phi- 
lanthropy and wisdom, will we trust, continue to 
form plans for the amelioration of mankind, and 
for the advancement of human knowledge : but, 
unless they are actuated by the highest and holiest 
motives, they will not be any thing more than 
theorists, they will not be the working parties in 
a cause, which never can be effectually promoted 
but by those, who feeling the power of the Gospel 
are constrained to acts of self-denial charity, and 
to busy, practical benevolence, by Christian love 
and a deep sense of religious obligation. It was 
this that led NerT to the dismal solitudes of Dor- 
milleuse, and shut him up with his twenty-five 
pupils, and urged him to abandon for a time those 
pursuits, which were most congenial to his mind 
and habits, in order that he might lay a foundation 
of knowledge and happiness, and contribute 
something to the stock of general prosperity in a 
district, which was separated from the more habi- 
table parts of the world by rocks and mountains, 
cold and sterility. 

Note. — The Journal of Education, No. 3. contains infor- 
mation on the subject of education in France, confirmato- 
ry of what I have advanced on this subject. It states that 
very little has yet been done for the education of the lower 
orders, that " almost every thing remains to be done," but 
that nothing will be done till a sufficient number of schools 
shall be formed for the education of Masters. It intimates 
that " the theocratic or absolutist party" has been the 
means of keeping the country in this wretched state. 



CHAPTER XI. 



Neff's strength fails — Winter horrors of Dormilleuse — Neff 
obliged to return to Switzerland — Parting Scenes — Neff 
goes to the baths of Plombieres — His last address to his 
Alpine flock — His sufferings and patience — His last 
hours — His death at Geneva. 

It was after the winter of 1825, and the cold 
spring of 1826, when the severe duty of presiding 
over the Normal School at Dormilleuse, and of 
visiting his distant churches at regular intervals, 
overwhelmed him with fatigue, that Neff began 
to feel that his career must soon end. The long 
continued excitement, and anxiety, the oft repeated 
journeys on foot in all weathers, the sharpness of 
the external air, and the suffocating heat of a 
small room, in which so many persons, not re- 
markable for their cleanliness, were crowded to- 
gether, day after day, these, together with the ex- 
ertion of daily and almost hourly lectures, would 
have undermined the most robust frame. Depri- 
vation added to hard work, and the irregularity, 
as well as the coarse unwholesome quality of his 
meals, brought on a weakness of stomach, which 
was followed by a total derangement of the diges- 
tive organs. Had he relaxed his exertions in 
time, he might have been saved, but in the desti- 
tute state of the Alpine churches, he could not 



neff's strength fails. 265 

reconcile it to his mind to desert his post of duty 
so long as he had any strength remaining. He 
struggled through the summer of 1826 pretty 
well, but when the winter came and he resumed 
his labours both in the school, upon the rock, and 
in visiting his scattered hamlets, while the snow 
blocked up some of the more direct passes, and 
rendered all difficult of access, it was more and 
more manifest that the conflict could not last 
long. The internal pains, which he suffered from 
indigestion, were aggravated by an accidental 
disaster. To avoid the danger of an avalanche, 
he traversed a debris of rock ; his foot slipped, 
and he spraint his knee so badly, that the effects 
were felt long and severely. His letters, written 
from Dormilleuse in the early part of 1827, 
breathe the same devout and resigned spirit as 
before, but I fancy that I trace in some of them a 
melancholy foreboding, that his projects had just 
been completed in time, and that the erection of 
his school-room, and the instructions which he 
had been enabled to give to those, who were 
destined to the catechetical and scholastic office, 
were seasonably completed before his race was 
run. The following gives an animated descrip- 
tion of the wintry horrors of Dormilleuse. 

" Thanks to the generosity of my friends, our 
little school is now floored and glazed — the 
benches and seats are all finished, and while all 
the other schools in this country are held in damp 
and dark stables, where the scholars are stifled 
with smoke, and interrupted by the babble of peo- 
ple and the noise of the cattle, and are obliged to 
be constantly quarrelling with the kids and fowls 
23 



266 WINTER HORRORS OF DORMILLEUSE. 

in defence of their copy-books, or shifting their 
position to avoid the droopings from the roof, we 
have here a comfortable and well warmed apart- 
ment. I am again conducting a school for the 
education of those, whose business it will be to 
educate others — it now consists of about twenty 
young men from the different villages. We aie 
buried in snow more than four feet deep. At 
this moment a terrible hurricane is raging, which 
dashes the snow about in clouds — we can scarcely 
put our feet out of the house, and I know not 
when my letter will reach you. During the late 
abundant falls of snow, and the violence of the 
wind, our communication with the other valleys 
has been both difficult and dangerous. The ava- 
lanches threaten us on all sides. They have been 
falling thick, especially about Dormilleuse. 

" One Sunday evening, our students and many 
of the inhabitants of Dormilleuse, were returning 
home after the sermon at Violins, when they nar- 
rowly escaped an avalanche. It rolled down into 
a very narow defile and fell between two groups 
of people. Had it fallen a moment sooner or la- 
ter, it would have rolled one of the parties into 
the abyss below, and would thus have destroyed 
the flower of the youth of this region. But the 
Eternal, who rules over the waves of the sea, 
commands also the ice and the snow, and protects 
his children in the midst of peril. The villages 
are every where menanced with the impending 
danger. Upon several occasions lately, I have 
seen even our calm and daring Alpines express 
anxiety. In fact, there are very few habitations 
in these parts which are not liable to be swept 



WINTER HORRORS OF DORMILLEUSE. 267 

away, for there is not a spot in the narrow corner 
of the valley, which can be considered absolutely 
safe. But terrible as their situation is, they owe 
to it their religion, and perhaps their physical 
existence. If their country had been more secure 
and more accessible, they would have been exter- 
minated like the inhabitants of Val Louise. 

When his eleves separated for the second time, 
the pastor returned to Arvieux, and nursed his 
sprained knee, but his stomach had so entirely lost 
its tone, that it could receive nothing but liquids, 
" I perceived, " said he, when he spoke of himself 
afterwards, " that my strength was diminishing 
rapidly, for the first time I became conscious that 
it was time to seek for that succour, which, with 
all their kindness, these poor mountaineers could 
not procure me." 

It was heart-rending to him to think of quitting 
the valleys, where he had been of so much use, and 
where he had been received and treated so affec- 
tionately: but he submitted to the absolute neces- 
sity of a removal to his own native climate, and 
made preparation for a return to Geneva by slow 
journeys. From henceforth, during his short con- 
tinuance on earth, we shall find him exercising 
the passive virtues of a suffering Christian, as emi- 
nently as he had displayed the active qualities of 
a zealous man of God. 

NefT took leave, for ever, of his presbytery at 
La Chalp, on the 17th of April, 1827. He was 
surrounded by so many afflicted friends, that he 
was constrained to repeat the Apostle's tender re- 
buke, "What, mean ye to weep, and to break 
mine heart ? ? J At the distance of about three miles 



268 PARTING SCENES. 

from Arvieux, just before he entered the gloomi- 
est part of the pass of the Guil, he was met by 
four young men, from Dormilleuse, who had then 
walked eight leagues since sunrise, to have the 
melancholy satisfaction of paying their farewell 
attentions to their beloved pastor. They considered 
it no fatigue to continue walking by his side till 
they arrived at Guillestre. The next morning, 
with the earliest dawn, one of the faithful creatures, 
who had observed how painful it was for NefF, in 
his exhausted state, to pursue his journey on foot, 
set out for Fressiniere to procure a horse for the 
invalid. He met a party consisting of the heads 
of families, who were on their way to bid adieu 
to the pastor, and great was their joy, when they 
learnt, that the painful good-bye would yet be 
deferred for a short time, and that it was his in- 
tention to pass through the valley of Fressiniere 
on his route to Mens, from whence he w r as to pro- 
ceed to Switzerland by the easier direction of the 
highroad. But that none of his flock might feel 
themselves forgotten, or neglected, Neff turned his 
face towards Vars, the furtherest out-post on the 
south of his vast parish, and there preached a 
farewell sermon to the weeping Protestants of 
that village. His last charge to John Rostan of 
Vars, of whom honourable mention is made in 
NefPs Journal, and whose zeal and attainments 
gave him hopes, that he would become a useful 
minister of the Church, was, that he should make 
frequent tours through the several hamlets during 
the summer and keep things in order. He also 
left that young man some money to bear his ex- 
penses, and there is every reason to believe that 



PARTING SCENES. 269 

the expectations entertained of him will be re- 
alized. 

On my way to Dormilleuse, from the Piemon- 
tese Valleys, in 1829, Rostan heard of my arrival 
at Guillestre, and accompanied me from thence to 
Val Fressiniere. I was struck with the affection- 
ate and respectful manner in which the young 
catechist was greeted, as we passed through the 
several hamlets, and judged that his services 
would be extremely beneficial in the valleys, if 
he could get ordained. He had been to the uni- 
versity of Montauban for a term or two, but had 
found it too expensive to continue his studies there, 
it is therefore to be feared that his hopes of minis- 
terial advancement will be disappointed, and that 
he must remain in the humbler station of a cat- 
echist. 

When NefF proceeded through Chancelas, and 
Palons, and Fressiniere, and Violins, and Minsas, 
and Dormilleuse, on his way to Mens, the strug- 
gle between his emotions, excited by a farewell 
visit to the cottages of his friends, and his sense 
of the necessity of keeping up their spirits and 
his own, was a terrible conflict for his weakened 
frame. " However, I was not sorrow," said he in 
one of his letters, " to have seen once more my 
friends of the mountains. I observed with joy, 
that, amidst the sadness caused by my departure, 
those who were truly established in religious prin- 
ciples, bore it with the greatest fortitude, and joined 
their voices to mine, in assuring the more dejec- 
ted that Jesus Christ, the chief Shepherd, never 
leaves us, and that with him, we can want noth- 
ing : that the ministers of the Gospel are like so 
23* 



270 PARTING SCENES. 

many John the Baptists, whose mission should be 
considered as done, when they have pointed out 
the Lamb of God, and that they, and dependance 
on them, ought to dimmish, in proportion as Je- 
sus increases in the heart. Several of those who 
felt the greatest affection for me, exclaimed, f had 
you always remained with those among whom 
you first laboured, we might have continued in 
darkness until now ; it is fair that some others 
should now have the benefit of your ministry. 
May the Lord accompany you, and bless your la- 
bours, every where, for his name's sake. 5 " 

The invalid stopped for a short time at Mens, 
where he was again deeply affected by the atten- 
tions of his friends in that town, and in its vicini- 
ty ; and his anxiety to address them once more 
from the pulpit, induced him to exert himself in 
a manner which added considerably to his debili- 
ty. When he arrived at Geneva, he was in a state 
of extreme languor and suffering, but his native 
air produced a temporary improvement, which 
gave some faint hopes that he might yet be re- 
stored. The ever busy spirit, however, would 
not suffer the body to rest ; he imprudently at- 
tempted to do things beyond his strength, and in 
a very short time his malady had increased so 
much, that he found himself utterly unable to 
take any solid food : the digestive organs seemed 
to be completely paralyzed. In this miserable 
condition he dragged through the remainder of 
1827, and the spring of 1828, when, as a last ex- 
pedient, it was recommended to him to try the 
effects of mineral waters. 

Neff was not deceived respecting his own 



PLOMBIERES. 271 

condition ; he had very little hope of recovery 5 
but he did not think it right to neglect the advice 
of his physician, who ordered him to go to the 
baths of Plombieres. He left Geneva on the 
19th of June, to travel thither by short stages, 
and journeyed slowly through the cantons of Vaud, 
Neufchatel, Berne, and Bale, where he had preach- 
ed the Gospel, eight years before. It was sooth- 
ing to his mind, to meet again the acquaintances 
he had made there, and to be cordially greeted by 
many others who were strangers to him, but who 
gathered round him with affection for the sake of 
the good work in which he had been engaged. 

The journey, or rather the joy he felt, at the 
reception he met every where, having reanimated 
him, he had strength to preach in every place 
where he stopped. At Plombieres, he found 
what is to be met with at all watering places, a 
confused mixture of every moral and physical 
evil, and he felt himself called upon to publish the 
word of life amidst this throng of persons, whose 
minds were occupied chiefly by their sufferings, 
or their pleasures, ' where no one,' said he, 
1 seemed to think of eternity.' Madame de C — , 
wife of the prefect of the Vosges, a Protestant 
lady, proposed to him to establish a public service 
on Sundays, and she made it known to all the 
Protestants of the place. The congregation was 
large, and he had never before preached to so 
brilliant an audience, yet he spoke with as much 
freedom and simplicity, as he had done to the 
mountaineers of the Alps. On the succeeding 
Sundays there was a great number of Roman 
Catholics in attendance, and two large apartments 



272 PLOMBIERES. 

could scarcely contain the hearers. Many per- 
sons of both persuasions appeared to take delight 
in these services. 

The use of the waters and the baths promised 
at first to produce a good effect. His strength 
and his appetite improved, and it was thought ad- 
visable to add solids to the milk, which, for a 
whole year, had been his only nourishment, but 
this experiment proved highly injurious. After 
some days he suffered more severely than ever, 
and it was evident that the most skilful care could 
not arrest the progress of the disorder for many 
weeks more. On the approach of the bad season 
at Plombieres, it would have been right to have 
moved him away at once, but his total loss of 
strength rendered every exertion more and more 
hazardous : yet in this melancholy situation, his 
letters contained such sentiments as these : — " I 
cannot sufficiently thank God for his goodness to 
me ! What composure, what peace, he permits 
me to enjoy ! Until lately it appeared to me im- 
possible to support the idea of being cut off from 
the number of Christ's labourers, and of being 
condemned to absolute inaction ; but the Lord no 
sooner saw fit to call upon me to make this sacri- 
fice, than he made me sensible that, what is im- 
possible with man, is possible with him. Sustain- 
ed by his grace, I can say Amen to his decrees." 
Whilst he was confined to his bed, he received 
several visits from one of the cures of Plombieres 
and from some young Romish ecclesiastics. 'Had 
they come for controversy, 5 said Neff, l I should 
not have been able to receive them, w T eak as I 
was ; but they carefully avoided every thing that 



NEFF RETURNS TO GENEVA. 273 

could fatigue me, and even listened willingly to 
the few words I addressed to them. They were 
surprised to hear a Protestant speak of the con- 
version of the heart and of spiritual life, in the 
same terms as some of their most eminent divines. 
I have often observed that with such persons, it is 
much better, if possible, to build up and to plant, 
than to tear away and to destroy ; most of their 
prejudices proceed from their ignorance of all that 
concerns true Protestantism, and they are half 
disarmed, when we speak to them, without any 
argument, of that which constitutes the life, the 
strength, and the peace of the soul. 

Certain prescriptions having, in some degree, 
restored his strength, he quitted Plombieres, but 
not without expressing his regret at being depriv- 
ed of the affectionate care of his medical attend- 
ant, Dr. Turck, who is well known to the visitors 
at Plombieres, for his humane disposition, as well 
as for his professional talents. This time too, the 
journey again seemed to revive the invalid a little, 
and on his arrival at Geneva, some faint hopes 
were cherished, " but very soon, 55 said one of his 
friends, " as though the strength of his body had 
been absorbed by that of his mind, he became 
worse than before. 55 

The period of his sufferings, at which we are 
now arrived, was long and dreary ; his stomach 
could scarcely bear a little milk whey, for even 
with this he often suffered terribly from indiges- 
tion, and the pain it caused was so violent, that 
he could not venture to take this slight nourish- 
ment, until after he had endured the pangs of 
hunger for many hours. When he was no long- 



274 HIS SUFFERINGS. 

er able to go out of doors, they contrived all kinds 
of manual occupation to assist his digestion. 
Conversation was forbidden him: only a small 
number of his friends were permitted to enjoy the 
privilege of seeing him, and, during these visits, 
they could only press his hand, and render him 
some trifling service. He loved to see them for a 
few moments, and when he was fatigued, he made 
a sign foi them to leave him. " It was most heart 
rending," said a spectator of his sufferings, " to 
behold him, thus pale and emaciated, his large 
eyes beaming with an expression of fortitude 
and pain; covered from head to foot, with 
four or five woolen garments, which he was oblig- 
ed to change frequently ; submitting, in silence, 
and with the greatest calmness, to the application 
of the moxas,* a painful operation, which was 
constantly repeated ; suffering the pangs of hun- 
ger ; counting the hours, and at last venturing to 
take something, then waiting with anxiety till the 
food, such as it was, should digest, and thus pas- 
sing all his days and nights during a long succes- 
sion of relapses, and of physical prostration, which 
we sometimes looked upon as a relief." 

As he became more and more debilitated and 
exhausted by hunger, new kinds of decoctions 
were continually tried, but what he at first took 
with apparent pleasure he soon refused. His 
thoughts were perpetually turning towards the 
Alps, and there he seemed to have centered all 
his anxieties. If he still cherished an earthly 

* An Indian or Chinese moss 3 used in the cure of some 
disorders, by burning it on the part affected. 



LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 275 

wish, and ventured to hope against hope, it was 
that the Almighty would again vouchsafe to em- 
ploy him, in the work which he had there com- 
menced. When he could no longer write to his 
Alpines himself, he requested his mother to be- 
come his amanuensis, and to her he dictated his 
energetic exhortations, and the touching expres- 
sion of his never-ceasing solicitude on their ac- 
count. 

In the following extracts from two of these let- 
ters, the reader will perceive how strong his feel- 
ings were even in death, and will be able to un- 
derstand something of the force of Christian affec- 
tions and anxieties, and may study them, as a 
tablet on which were written the pure and real 
sentiments of a minister of religion, when all 
worldly considerations had passed away. 

From a Letter, dated October 6th, 1828. 

" In the state of complete isolation in which I 
am kept by my long sickness, a portion of my 
time is employed in imaginary excursions into 
Dauphine. My mind wanders, as in a dream, over 
the high Alps and the Trieve.* My heart ac- 
companies it in its progress, and finds itself (not 
without emotion) in all those places, where it has 
experienced so many delightful sensations ; espe- 
cially where it has beat for the conversion of poor 
sinners, and where I have been in the society of 
precious souls, eager for the word of salvation. 
Again, I pass through the valleys, and over the 

* The country about Mens is so called. 



276 LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 

mountains, and along the shepherds' paths which 
I have so often trodden alone, or with my friends. 
I find myself again in the cottages, in the stables, 
in the orchards, where I have conversed of heav- 
enly things with all those who are dear to me in 
Jesus Christ. I see them all separately or togeth- 
er, I hear them and speak to them. In such mo- 
ments as these, the feelings, which then animated 
me, naturally resume their influence, and, as I 
did then, I lift up my soul to the Father of every 
perfect gift, in prayer for his dear children. In 
this retrospect also, the remembrance of my breth- 
ren who are no more, presents itself to my mind, 
and I sigh deeply, but soon I bless God for them, 
and I rejoice to see them in the sheepfold, shelter- 
ed from all evil, and guarded against any wand- 
ering. Doubtless I cannot thus recall times and 
places, without feeling many very humiliating re- 
collections, nor without thinking that, if now I 
am, as it were, set aside, and cut off from the ser- 
vice of Christ, I have well deserved to be so. 
These reflections are salutary ones, and I should 
be wrong to banish them. But that which throws 
the deepest shade over the picture, is the number 
of those who have peiished in the wilderness, 
who, after having come out of Egypt, have re- 
turned thither in their hearts, not having had cour- 
age to press forward to possess the good land ! 
How many unhappy souls do I remember amongst 
you, who have been shaken by the preaching of 
the word, who have trembled at the foot of Sinai, 
who have exclaimed in anguish, c what shall I do 
to be saved?' who have for a time renounced the 
w r orld, borne its hatred, and suffered affliction with 



LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 277 

the people of God. Who have then become tired 
of the way, have no longer dreaded the wrath to 
to come, have forgotten alike the threats and the 
promises, and have fallen asleep, after having 
watched, long enough, alas ! to be without excuse, 
and to prepare for themselves eternal sorrow, and 
the most terrible condemnation ! Oh ! how the 
remembrance of them grieves me ! how deeply I 
lament the loss of those dear children, of whom 
my heart has been long in travail, and who have 
not been able to attain to the new birth, who have 
appeared bright as flowers, but like barren flowers, 
have produced no fruit ! But what shall I say of 
those who have yielded some fruit, who have be- 
gun a new life, who have tasted the heavenly gift, 
who have borne witness to the truth, who have 
even brought many to the light of it, and who 
have returned, like the sow to her* wallowing in 
the mire, who have forgotten the purification of 
their past sins ; who have forsaken the right way 
like Balaam, and have done despite unto the Spir- 
it of grace, wherewith they have been sanctified 1 
Take heed, dear friends, to that expression of the 
Saviour : i Abide in me, as the branch abides in 
the vine.' He does not only say there, as he did 
elsewhere. Come unto me, but, ' Abide in me V 
And how ? As the branch, which never separ- 
ates itself from the vine ; without which, and 
apart from which, it has no life." 

24 



278 LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 

From a second Letter •, dated March 1829. 

" Five months have passed away since you re- 
ceived the address of which this letter is the se- 
quel and during that time I have had much expe- 
rience. I am considerably weaker than I was then, 
and I shall not be able to arrange methodically 
what remains for me to say to you, indeed I shall; 
have power to say very little ; but I am most anx- 
ious to address you. I feel constrained to con- 
firm to-day all that I have before spoken, and all 
that I preached to you and told you when I was 
with you ; for I have now proved those truths 
which I then taught you. Yes, now, more than 
ever I feel the importance, absolute importance,, 
of being a Christian indeed, of living in habitual 
communion with the Saviour, of abiding in him. 
It is in the time of trial, that we can speak of 
these things as we ought. A Christian without 
affliction is only a soldier on parade ; but I ex- 
perience it now, and will openly bear witness of 
it, whilst God still gives me strength so to do. It 
is strictly true, that, through much tribulation, we 
must enter the kingdom of heaven, and we must 
personally feel what is said of the Prince of our 
salvation, ' that it became him to be made perfect 
through affliction.' Though he were the Son of 
God, yet 'learned he obedience by the things 
which he suffered.' How much more need have 
we ourselves of this instruction. Yes, I can now 
say, it is good for me that I have been afflicted; 
this trial was needful for me. I felt beforehand 
that it was requisite, and I do not fear to tell you, 
that I prayed to the Lord for it. My situation is 



LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 279 

indeed painful ; I, who delighted so much in an 
active, stirring life, have long been reduced to the 
most complete inertion, scarcely able to eat, drink, 
sleep, speak, or listen to reading, or to receive the 
visits of my brethren, and feeling it a great effort 
to dictate these few lines, I am weighed down by 
the pains of sickness, and often I am deprived, by 
agonies, or by the wiles of Satan and my own 
heart, of the sense of God's presence, and of the 
consolations which it would afford me. I can, 
however, without hesitation declare, that I would 
not exchange this state of trial, for that in which 
some of my years have been passed, even in the 
midst of my ministerial labours ; for though my 
life may have been spent in the service of Christ, 
and. may have appeared exemplary to the eyes of 
men, I find in it so much unfaithfulness, so many 
sins, so many things which, in my sight, and 
above all in the sight of the Lord, have polluted 
my work, — I have passed so much time in forget- 
fulness of God, that had I still thirty years to live, 
I should prefer a hundred times over passing them 
on this bed of languor and anguish, to recovering 
my health and strength, and not to lead a life 
more truly Christian, more holy, more entirely 
devoted to God than I have done hitherto. Ah ! 
my dear friends ! how much time we lose, of 
how many blessings and graces we deprive our- 
selves, when we live far from God, in levity and 
thoughtlessness, in seeking after perishable things 
in the gratification of the flesh, and of self-love. 
Now I feel that it is so, and you will feel it also, 
in the day of trial. Redeem then the time : I 
cannot repeat it too often ; live unto God, by 



280 LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 

faith, by prayer, and by serious conversation. 
But can I recommend duties to you without no- 
ticing those, which you are bound to fulfil to- 
wards that multitude who live in the darkness, 
out of which the lord has brought you by his 
grace. Should the Church of Christ be conten- 
ted, like the garrison of a besieged town, to de- 
fend herself and preserve her own territory ; 
Ought she not, on the contrary, to make continu- 
al sallies, and to advance, like a victorious army, 
over the enemy's land 1 So soon as a tree ceases 
to grow, it begins to wither away 5 so soon as a 
Church ceases to advance it becomes torpid, and 
begins to decline. Ah ! if you feel the infinite 
worth of your heavenly calling ; if you know 
that love of Christ which passeth all undertanding r 
and the riches of the glory of his inheritance 
in the saints, and what is the excellent greatness 
of his power towards us who believe, if you have 
tasted how good the Lord is, and how precious is 
the lot which is fallen to us, if at the same time 
you know the value of immortal souls, and how 
dreadful is the fate of those, who know not Jesus, 
can you ever forget the worth of that glorious 
title, child of God, which you bear? Can you ev- 
er be any thing but Christians, if you have felt 
what infinite happiness it is to be a Christian ? 
You will be such, in all things and in all places ; 
you will wish the world to become such ; each 
one of you will become, in some wise, a witness 
of God's grace, a missionary, a preacher, a minis- 
ter of Christ. Your heart will burn with zeal 
for the salvation of souls, and from it will as- 
cend, without ceasing, as from a burning altar,. 



LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 281 

sighs and prayers in their behalf. Labour then 
in the kingdom of God ; be courageous in this ho- 
ly warfare, give no rest to yourselves. Cease not 
to importune the Lord, till he re-establish Jerusa- 
lem, till he make it to flourish again upon the 
earth, 

" As to myself, I have every reason to believe 
that my task is finished ; I wait, until by means 
of trials and afflictions, the Lord shall accomplish 
within me that work of patience, which must be 
perfected 3 and may he then take me, how and 
when he pleases, to his eternal rest. Having then 
no hope of seeing you again in this world, and 
not thinking that I shall be able to write more, I 
must take leave of you, recommending you from 
this time forward to God and the word of his 
grace. 

" Oh, my dear friends, how many things still 
remain for me to say to you ! how many things 
would I still call to your attention ! but the Lord 
will supply them. 

"Sometimes peruse again and again these last 
exhortations, which I have given you, and beseech 
the Lord to enable you to put them in practice. 
Above all read the Bible : go constantly to that 
tree of life which bears fruit in all seasons : you 
will always find there some fruit ripe for you, 
some word which will do good to your souls. If 
you have opportunities for any other reading, let 
it be chosen agreeably to the will of God : I 
should wish, for instance, that each of you should 
possess the Pilgrim ] s Progress and the Life of 
Buny an, that conscientious and experienced Chris- 
tian. Try to read also in the Paris Missionary 
24* 



282 LETTER TO THE ALPINES. 

Journal, (second year No. 3.) the Life of the 
Missionary Brainerd. I hope that they will 
soon publish those excellent Letters of the Min- 
ister Charles Rieu, who died in Denmark. An- 
other work which I expect will soon appear, and 
which I cannot too strongly recommend before- 
hand, is the Ancient and Modern History of the 
Bohemian and Moravian Brethren. There you 
will see what a Christian ought to be, and what 
a true Church of Jesus Christ may be. This 
work will be too expensive for each one of you 
to purchase it for himself ; but some of you can 
contribute jointly to have it in common. Lastly, 
I shall recommend to you, as a book of prayer 
and edification, as well as a collection of hymns, 
the compilation published at Geneva, under the 
title of Psalms, Hymns , Spiritual Songs, JfC. 

" I wish, my very dear friends, my dear broth- 
ers and sisters, that I could designate each of you 
by name ; but thank God, there would be too- 
much to do, and I desire that each of you may 
read these letters, as if they were addressed to 
himself in particular ; for you know my affection 
for you all, and how ardently I wish to meet you 
all again in that kingdom, where ' God will wipe 
away ail tears from our eyes, where there will be 
no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying.' 

"Be of good courage, then, my dear friends! 
We shall soon meet again, and it will be for ever, 
for ever ! Think upon this, and grieve not at 
our short separation. Once more adieu, my dear 
brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ ! May the 



THEIR ANSWER. 283 

Lord bless and keep you ; May he give you that 
peace and joy which the world cannot take away I 

" Your very affectionate brother, 

"Felix Neff." 

The interest which Neff expressed so forcibly, 
in his letters, in the fate of his beloved Alpines, 
led them to believe, that his strength was reno- 
vated, and encouraged them to hope, that they 
should yet see him again in the midst of them.* 
Some of his friends, there, wrote to Mens, and 
to the valleys of Fressinpore, and Queyras, and 
prepared them to expect the worst. The answers 
which were received, were full of grief and con- 
sternation. In one of them, addressed to Neff 
himself, there was this simple, but fervent expres- 
sion of affliction, and self-reproach. 

" It is we, it is we, who are the cause of your 
long illness. Had we been more ready to listen 
to you, you would not have had occasion to fatigue 
yourself in the deep snow, nor to exhaust your 
lungs, and all the powers of your body. Oh, how 
much pain has it cost you to teach us, like our 
good Saviour ; you forgot yourself for our sakes. 
Dear pastor, sensible of the affection you have 

* A few days before his death, he was asked by one of 
his most intimate friends, if he still adhered to the senti- 
ments which he had expressed in his two farewell letters to 
his Alpines, of October and March. His answer was giv- 
en with all the force that his debilitated frame would per- 
mit him to use, " I feel as if I should wish to preach those 
things even in paradise," and he then asked for a pen that 
he might sign a confession to that effect, but it was very 
properly judged that he was too weak for such an effort. 



284 HIS LAST DAYS. 

always manifested towards us, we desire, with all 
our hearts, to be useful to you. We can say, with 
truth, that if our lives could be of service toj^ou, 
we would give them, and then we should not be 
doing more for you than you have done for us. 
May the Lord bless you, and grant you patience 
in this long trial. May he shower upon you a 
thousand benedictions from on high, and recom- 
pense you for all the pains you have taken for 
us ! Your reward is in heaven : an immortal crown 
awaits you. We will conclude by intreating your 
prayers in our behalf: unworthy as we are, we do 
not forget you in ours. Every family, without 
exception, from the heights of Romas to the foot 
of the Influs, salutes you, and you will see the 
names of some of them in this letter. We are 
your unworthy, but entirely devoted brothers." 

These artless and tender lines were followed by 
a great number of signatures, those of the heads of 
the families of Dormilleuse and its vicinity proba- 
bly of all who could sign their name. In the same 
letter these good men proposed to depute two per- 
sons from among them to see him once more, or 
to send him the money, which such a journey 
would cost, if he needed it ; but Neif refused both 
these offers, lest he should be a charge to them. 
He displayed his disinterestedness in another way 
about this time. Having received a bill of 400 
francs, which were due to him, he said, " This 
money is no longer mine, it is for the missionary 
of the Alps," and he sent it to M. Blanc at Mens, 
to be employed as the donors had intended. 

During this prolonged illness, his friends 
watched by him by turns, but until the few last 



HIS LAST DAYS. AOO 

nights of his life he would not allow them to re- 
main standing about his bed, he even suffered in- 
convenience rather than call to them. By day, 
however, it was necessary to be constantly near 
him, to lift him up, and to moisten his lips with a 
sponge steeped in milk, mixed with a little lemon 
juice ; he took nothing else. They applied fric- 
tion to his stomach to soothe the pains of hunger, 
and even in this extremity he retained such a 
playfulness of mind, that when he would ask one 
of them to rub him, he called out " give me my 
dinner." 

" * His voice became so weak that it was neces- 
sary to go very close to him in order to hear it; he 
spoke with great difficulty and with severe pain, 
yet he willingly endured this suffering when he 
had any salutary advice to give us." 

" We had the satisfaction," said a narrator of 
the dying scene, " of being much with him to- 
wards the close of his painful career, and we 
never heard a murmur escape from his lips. He 
was grateful for the affection shown towards him, 
and returned it abundantly. Often, after our poor 
services, he threw his arms round our necks, em- 
braced us, thanked us, and exhorted us with all 
his soul to devote ourselves to God. ' Believe 
my experience,' said he, { He only is your sure 
trust, He only is truly to be loved. If you should 
one day be employed in the preaching of the 
Gospel, take heed not to work to be seen of men. 
Oh, with how many things of this kind do I re- 

* This account of Neff 's last days is taken from the 
"Notice sur Felix Neff" published at Geneva in 1831. 



286 



HIS LAST DAYS, 



proach myself! My life, which appears to some- 
to have been well employed, has not been a quar- 
ter so much so as it might have been ! How 
much precious time have I lost !' He accused 
himself of unfaithfulness in the employment of 
his time, and of having been vain-glorious : he, 
whose labours were scarcely known to a few 
friends ! who had refused to marry, that his heart 
might be entirely devoted to his Master, and 
whose ardent charity for his fellow-creatures had 
brought him, at the age of thirty-one, to his bed 
of death ! Knowing his love for sacred music, 
we frequently assembled in a room near his own, 
and sung, in an under tone, verses of his favorite 
hymns, particularly 'Rien 6 Jesus que ta grace/ 
and a paraphrase on the thirty-first chapter of 
Jeremiah, which he had himself composed. This 
singing filled his soul with a thousand feelings 
and recollections, and affected him so much, that 
we were obliged to discontinue it, though he did 
not see us, and he heard us but faintly. 

" About a fortnight before his death, he looked 
on a mirror, and discovering unequivocal signs of 
dissolution in his countenance, he gave utterance 
to his joy : l Oh, yes ! soon, soon I shall be going 
to my God !' From that time he took no more 
care of himself: his door was opened to all, and 
the last hours of the missionary became a power- 
ful mission. His chamber was never empty, he 
had a word for every one, until he was exhausted 
by it. In the full enjoyment of all his mental 
faculties, every thing was present to his memory ; 
the most trivial circumstances ; even conversations 
which he had held many years previously, and he 



HIS LAST DAYS. 287 

made use of them with extraordinary energy in 
his exhortations. On his mother's account only 
did he show the least inquietude : old, feeble, and 
devoted to him, she could not restrain her tears. 
Before her, he assumed a firmness which amount- 
ed even to reproach ; then, when she left him, no 
longer able to refrain from weeping himself, his 
eyes followed her with tenderness, and he would 
exclaim ' my poor mother !' 

" He made presents to his friends, and set apart 
roome religious books for many persons to whom 
!he still hoped to be useful ; after having underlin- 
ed several passages, he thus wrote the address : — 
Felix NefT, dying, to 

" We shall have an indelible recollection of the 
last letter that he wrote ; it was a few days before 
his death. He was supported by two persons, 
-and, hardly able to see, he traced at intervals, and 
in large and irregular characters which filled a 
page, the lines which follow, addressed to some of 
his beloved friends in the Alps. What must have 
been the feelings of those who received them, with 
the persuasion that he, who had traced them, was 
no more ! 

" c Adieu, dear friend, Andre Blanc, Antoine 
Blanc, all my friends the Pelissiers. whom I love 
tenderly ; Francis Dumont and his wife ; Isaac 
and his wife ; beloved Deslois, Emilie Bonnet, 
&c. &c ; Alexandrine and her mother ; all, all 
the brethren and sisters of Mens, adieu, adieu. I 
ascend to our Father in entire peace ! Victory ! 
victory ! victory ! through Jesus Christ. 

Felix Neff. 5 



288 HIS LAST DAYS. 

"The last night of his life, we and some other 
persons remained to sit up with him. Never shall 
we forget those hours of anguish, so well called 
the valley of the shadow of death. It was neces- 
sary to attend to him constantly, and to hold him 
in his convulsive struggles ; to support his faint- 
ing head in our arms, to wipe the cold drops from 
his forehead, to bend or to straighten his stiffened 
limbs ; the centre of his body only retained any 
warmth. For a short time he seemed to be chok- 
ing, and we dare not give him any thing: a few 
words of Scripture were read to him, but he did 
not appear to hear ; once only, when some one 
was lamenting to see him suffer so much, and said, 
J poor Neff, 5 he raised his head for an instant, fix- 
ed his large eyes full of affection upon his friend, 
and again closed them. During the long night of 
agony we could only pray and support him. In 
the morning, the fresh air having a little revived 
him, he made a sign that he should be carried to 
a higher bed ; they placed him on this bed in a 
sitting posture, and the struggles of death began. 
For four hours we saw his eyes raised to heaven; 
each breath that escaped from his panting bosom, 
seemed accompanied with a prayer ; and at that 
awful period, when the heaviness of death was 
upon him, in the ardent expression of his sup- 
plication he appeared more animated than any of 
us. We stood around him weeping, and almost 
murmuring at the duration of his sufferings, but 
the power of his faith was so visible in his coun- 
tenance, that our faith too was restored by it, it 
seemed as though we could see his soul hovering 
on his lips, impatient for eternity. At last we so 



HI3 DEATH. 289 

well understood what his vehement desire was, 
that with one impulse we all exclaimed : Come, 
Lord Jesus, come quickly. 

? Two days afterwards, (his death took place 
12th of April, 1829,) we accompanied his re- 
mains to the tomb. Over his resting-place were 
read some beautiful verses of that Word which 
shall never pass away. We then prayed, and in 
compliance with his wish, his numerous friends, 
who were assembled at the grave, sang together 
those lines of M. Vinet, of which the stanzas con- 
clude thus : — 

"lis ne sont pas perdus, ils nous ont devanc^s." 

25 



CHAPTER XII. 



Review of NefTs character— Its value as an example— 
His practical wisdom and usefulness— His prudence and 
caution— His gentleness of spirit — His conciliating- man- 
ners — Two remarkable traits — Neff compared with Ber- 
nard Gilpin, George Herbert, Oberlin, and Henry Mar- 
tyn — Testimonies to Neff's services. 

When I determined to publish the preceding 
memoir, I had two objects in view ; first, to make 
known the existence of another mountain church* 

* The existence of branches of the Christian Church, 
not sects, to which, and through which apostolical Chris- 
tianity has been transmitted from age .to age, without any 
admixture of Romish error, is a truth in history, which 
must be agitated, until more justice shall be done to the 
question by ecclesiastical writers. The author of a "His- 
tory of the Church," published under the superintendence 
of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," 
the best Church history which has yet appeared, will, I am 
sure, receive this hint with the same spirit of candour and 
inquiry which he has displayed throughout the whole of 
his work. In chapter xviii. pp. 353-355, has he not mis- 
applied the terms, heresy, heretics, and sect, in application 
to the Waldenses of Piemont, for example ? My object, ■ 
of which he has kindly made honourable mention, was not 
to prove the apostolical descent of the Vaudois, for this 
would be a vain attempt, but to prove their apostolical 
Christianity, from time immemorial, and their independ- 
ence of Rome, at periods when the Church of Rome pre- 
tends that all who professed to be Christians were either 



REVIEW OF NEFF'S CHARACTER. 291 

in the Alps, besides that of the Waldenses of Pie- 
mont, which has continued independent of Rome, 
and free from its corruptions, ever since it was 
first planted ; and secondly, to hold up the exam- 
ple of a village pastor, who in our own times has 
displayed " the zeal of an apostle, and the con- 
stancy of a martyr." 

Whoever has a station in the Christian Church 
to fill, and appointed duties to discharge, may find 
something in Neff's character, which is worthy of 
imitation, and those, whose place it is to receive 
Math meekness the engrafted word, may learn to 
estimate its importance, from the earnestness with 
which that devoted servant of God delivered it. 

The striking peculiarity in Neff's character, 
which I will now endeavour to draw out into its 
full breath, was his practical wisdom and use- 
fulness as a Christian minister, No man ever 
preached, or insisted upon the main and essential 
doctrinal points of the Gospel more strongly than 
he did ; these were put prominently forward in all 
his sermons, in his conversations, in his corres- 
pondence, and in his private diaries, but at the 
same time he exacted attention to the ordinary 
duties of life, with all the strenuonsness of one 
who would admit of no compromise. It was his 
anxiety to build up the Christian on a foundation, 

in communion with her, or were heretics. Now if I have 
proved this their perpetual apostolical Christianity, how 
could the Vaudois be heretics, when they were professino* 
the true faith ? and why call them a sect, when they were 
always a branch of the vine, abiding 1 in the vine, and never 
cut themselves off from any community, of which they 
were once a part ? 



292 REVIEW of neff's character. 

where self dependence, vain-glory, and imaginary 
merit, were to have no place whatever ; and yet 
every act of his ministry proved that he set a just 
value on knowledge and attainments. It was his 
labour of love to show, that whenever any addi- 
tion is made to our stock of knowledge, we not 
only gain something in the way of enjoyment, 
but are laying up a store for the improvement of 
our moral and religious feelings, and of our gen- 
ral habits of industry. The spiritual advance- 
ment of his flock was the great end and object of 
all his toils; but no man ever took a warmer in- 
terest in the temporal comforts of those about 
him, and this he evinced by instructing them in 
the management of their fields and gardens, in 
the construction of their cottages, and in employ- 
ing all his own acquirements in philosophy and 
science for the amelioration of their condition. 
He was not only the apostle, but as somebody said 
of Oberlin, "he was also the Triptolemus" of the 
High Alps. 

To discharge the proper duties of a preacher of 
the Gospel, was a vehement desire with NefT, 
strong as a passion : his heart and soul were in 
them ; yet he often left this walk, so glorious in 
his eyes, to follow another track, and to point out 
those things to the notice of his people, which re- 
lated to their worldly conveniences. It was his 
high and lofty ambition to elevate their thoughts 
and hopes to the noblest objects to which immor- 
tal beings can aspire, and to raise the standard, 
until they should reach to the fulness of the 
stature of Christ : and yet be so condescended to 
things of low estate, as to become a teacher of 



HIS PRUDENCE AND CAUTION. 293 

a, b, c, not only to ignorant infancy, but to the 
dull and unpliant capacities of adults. Begin- 
ning with the most tiresome rudiments, he pro- 
ceeded upwards, leading on his scholars method- 
ically, kindly, and patiently, until he had made 
them proficients in reading, writing, and arithme- 
tic, and could lead them into the pleasanter paths 
of music, geography, history, and astronomy. 
His mind was too enlarged to fear that he should 
be teaching his peasant boys too much. It was 
his aim to show what a variety of enjoyments 
may be extracted out of knowledge, and that even 
the shepherd and the goatherd of the mountain 
side, will be all the happier and the better for 
every piece of solid information that he can ac- 
quire. 

NerT was a man of the most ardent and elastic 
zeal, else he never could have dedicated himself 
so entirely to the work of a missionary pastor in 
a foreign country : yet he brought the good sense 
of a masculine understanding to bear upon all his 
religious projects : he exercised a degree of pru- 
dence seldom witnessed in conjunction with such 
ardour, and he was constantly checking the ebul- 
litions of his spirit, and tempering his zeal with 
salutary prudence. The nicest discretion, and 
the most judicious caution, distinguished his pro- 
ceedings. This was especially manifested in the 
selection and training of his catechists. He 
knew that a few young men, well prepared, would 
do more good among their countrymen than a 
host of undisciplined enthusiasts and ill-taught 
novices. 

The broad distinctions and uncompromising 
25* 



294 REVIEW of neff's character. 

truths of Protestantism were matters of awful 
sanctity with Neff 3 and yet, though he was the 
pastor of a flock opposed to Popery by all the 
strong prejudices of hereditary separation, I might 
almost say of deep-rooted aversion, yet with dog- 
matical and polemical Protestantism he would 
have nothing to do. He made numberless con- 
verts from Romanism, not so much by argument 
and discussion, as by mildly inculcating the true 
spirit of the Gospel ; not by dwelling on topics 
of strife, and on points of difference, but on points 
of universal agreement, and by exhibiting our 
common Christianity in its most persuasive form, 
until their hearts melted before the one Mediator 
and Intercessor, and they said, your God shall be 
our God, and your creed shall be our creed. 

He was rigid in his notions of Christian de- 
portment ; yet there was a meekness, and a kind- 
ness of manner about him, which conciliated all, 
and convinced them that he had their best inter- 
ests at heart : so much so, that perhaps no man 
was ever more reverenced and loved. When 
I traversed the villages and hamlets which had 
constituted his charge, two years after his remo- 
val from them, the recollection of his services was 
still cherished, with so much fondness and vene- 
ration, that his name was never pronounced but 
w T ith a seriousness and tenderness of voice, which 
assured me, that he still lived in their affections, 
and that he will form the subject of discourse and 
admiration, as long as one of the present race 
shall survive. 

Such was the pastor of the Alps in his exten- 
sive parish, consisting of scattered and remote 



THE VALUE OF HIS EXAMPLE. 295 

hamlets. Now, if NerT, — his ministerial duties 
spreading over such length and breadth ; the 
boundary lines of his charge stretching far and 
wide over mountains, and barriers of ice and 
snow, and across rapid rivers and deep ravines, and 
having to encounter all the difficulties of distance, 
climate, unknown language, and those other im- 
pediments usually thrown in the way of a foreign- 
er — if he could yet propose to himself, and could 
effect, such improvements as were the objects of 
his ministry, may not the clergy of our own 
Church look upon their field of labour with hope 
and courage. With the same promise of support 
from above ; with parishes for the most part of 
moderate extent, with all the advantages of en- 
dowment* ; with facilities derived from scholastic 

* The tendency of endowments has often been discussed. 
Some are inclined to think that they are not beneficial to 
the cause of religion, and it has been argued, that a min- 
ister of the word may be safely left to to the generosity of 
his flock, that a congregation will never suffer an active 
and pious clergyman to be insufficiently provided for. 
The name of Oberlin is now proverbial, and synonymous 
for that of an eminent and meritorious pastor. At the rev- 
olution, Oberlin like the rest of the established clergy of 
France,. w T as deprived of his scanty income. This was in 
1789. At first his parishioners came forward with gener- 
ous alacrity, and declared that their excellent minister 
should be none the worse — that they would raise 1400 
francs, or about 59£. a year for him at the least. The first 
year they subscribed a purse of 1133 francs : the second 
year their liberality fell down to 400 francs (161.) The 
pastor saw how things were going on, and requested that 
there might be no more annual collections for him, he was 
unwilling to appear to be drawing from the poor or reluc- 
tant, he would leave it entirely to their freewill, and un- 
solicited offerings, they knew the way to his house, he 



296 TWO REMARKABLE TRAITS. 

establishments of old standing — from institutions, 
where teachers are trained to their profession, — 
from societies which supply cheap and useful 
books : with the aid of an authorized version of 
Scripture, where every copy that is used is the 
same word for word, (an advantage this, which 
is unknown upon the continent,) and with innu- 
merable other resources, what may not yet be 
done to extend our usefulness, and to grow in 
favour with God and man, if we will but diligently 
and thankfully employ all the means with which 
we are so abundantly supplied ! 

It has been stated by one of Neff's most inti- 
mate friends, that there were two traits in his 
character, which are seldom found in one pos- 
sessed of such powers of mind as himself, and 
whose whole life, from the period of his maturity 
had been a career of activity and usefulness. The 
first, that he was entirely free from any ambitious 
views, he had no desire to be the first, that thorn 
in the side of the Christian Church : and though 
his labours had in reality been more abundant 
than those of most of his brethren, yet he never 
undervalued the performances of others, and it 
never seemed to be a feeling in his own mind,' 
that he had "laboured more abundantly than 
they all." The second was such extreme humil- 
ity, that he even regarded his own energy and 
activity, as something that partook of the nature 

said, and might bring to him what and when they pleased 
In 1794, few as were Oberlin's wants, his own resources 
and his parishioners' bounty had so far failed him that he 
was obliged to undertake the charge of ten or twelve pu- 
pils for his subsistence. 



NEFF COMPARED WITH BERNARD GILPIN. 29? 

of sin ; as being an obstacle in the way of his 
more frequent communion with God: as distrac- 
ting his thoughts from himself, and those secret 
contemplations which are needful for the individ- 
ual. He was fully sensible that an active spirit, 
and an affectionate concern for the temporal and 
spiritual concern of others, are qualities excellent 
in themselves, and indispensable for the good of 
the Christian commonwealth, and for the exten- 
sion of Christ's kingdom : but in his own case, he 
was afraid that they absorbed other qualities. He 
knew it was not the establishment of schools, the 
conducting of missions, or the preaching to others 
which of themselves constituted the life of the soul, 
on the contrary that the strenuous pursuit of great 
usefulness often becomes a snare and a pitfall, 
and a covering under which pride lurks : and he 
felt with the apostle, the necessity of bringing 
himself under subjection, lest, when he had preach- 
ed to others, he himself might become a castaway. 
It was under the influence of this feeling, that he 
was inclined to set small value upon his own la- 
bours. 

From his very youth he seems to have had 
continual conflicts with himself, the life of the 
chamois hunter would have been most in accord- 
ance with the natural flight of his spirits, and his 
ardent attachment to mountain pursuits ; but he 
controlled his wishes, when he was first of an age 
to seek employment, and he submitted to the con- 
finement, and to the dull sameness of a nursery 
garden. Afterwards when circumstances placed 
him in the army, and a path was opened to him 
that was leading rapidly to military reputation, and 



298 COMPARED WITH BERNARD GILPIN. 






to the indulgence of some of his early schemes, he 
turned aside from the tempting prospect, and 
determined not to know any thing save Jesus 
Christ, and him crucified. " His temper," said 
another of his friends, after his death, " natu- 
rally violent and unbending, was completely sub- 
dued." 

It is not venturing too much to say. that NerT's 
character will bear comparison with four of the 
most distinguished ornaments in his own profes- 
sion : with Bernard Gilpin, George Herbert, 
Frederick Oberlin, and Henry Martyn. 

His sphere of action was not, indeed, so con- 
centrated as that of the three first ; and we have 
not the parsonage tales and anecdotes to adorn the 
page of his history, which grace the biography 
of the pastors of Houghton, Bemerton, and Wald- 
bach :— nor was it so extensive as that of the mis- 
sionary Martyn ; it partook, however, of the fixed 
charge of the three first, and of the difficulties of 
the last. 

In the Memoirs of Gilpin, there are several par- 
ticulars to which passages in NerT's life bear re- 
semblance. Gilpin's parish, Houghton contained 
no less than fourteen villages, and had been much 
neglected before his arrival. NerT's contained as 
many, or more, and its religion was little more 
than traditionary. The people of Houghton had 
been so long excluded from all means of informa- 
tion, that king Edward's proclamation, for a 
change in the religious services of the country, 
had not even been heard of at the time of that 
prince's death. So in parts of Val Queyras, the 
edict of toleration of Louis XVI, was not known 



COMPARED WITH BERNARD GILPIN. 299 

till four years after its publication. Gilpin's ad- 
monitions and example were so impressive, and 
were so well received, that in a few years a most 
extraordinary change was observed in the whole 
neighbournood of his church : and so among NerT's 
flock. Gilpin thought that kindness and modera- 
tion, on his part would produce more conversions 
than the strife of controvsrsy, and it appears from 
the accounts of his intercourse with non-confor- 
mists.how much he was opposed to all intolerant 
principles,and how wrong he thought it, on the one 
hand to assail an established Church with violent 
hands, and on the other to molest and vex a quiet 
separatist. NerT's letter on establishments and 
separation, and the whole page of his ministerial 
history, will show that they were kindred spirits. 

The following extract from the Life of Gilpin, 
compared with De Thou 1 s account of Val Fressi- 
niere in his time, and with NerT's description of 
the poverty and ignorance of his Alpines, of his 
" obtruding Christianity on the notice of the peo- 
ple," by following them to their habitations, when 
the winter season confined them within doors ; 
and to the fairs, and places of resort, when they 
were likely to be found there ; and of preaching 
to them in any place most convenient for his pur- 
pose: — this will extend the parallel. In fact, 
there is ever the closet resemblance between the 
means, which all wise and pious, and active-min- 
ded pastors employ, under similar circumstances." 

" Gilpin used frequently to visit the most neg- 
lected parts. In each place he stayed two or three 



300 COMPARED WITH GEORGE HERBERT. 

days : and his method was to call the people about 
him, and lay before them, in as plain a way as 
possible, the danger of leading wicked, or even 
careless lives : explaining to them the nature of 
true religion, instructing them in the duties they 
owed to God, their neighbour, and themselves, 
and showing how greatly a moral and religious 
conduct would contribute to their present as well 
future happiness. There is a tract of country 
upon the borders of Northumberland, called Red- 
esdale and Tynedale, of all the barbarous places 
in the north, at that time, the most barbarous. 
In this dreadful countiy, where no man would 
ever travel that could help it, Mr Gilpin* never 
failed to spend some part of every year. He 
generally chose the Christmas holidays for this 
journey, because he found the people at that sea- 
son most disengaged, and most easily assembled. 
He had set places for preaching, which were as 
regularly attended as the assize towns on a circuit. 
If he came where there was a church, he made 
use of it : if not, he made use of barns, or any 
other large building, where great crowds of peo- 
ple were sure to attend him, some for his instruc- 
tion, and others for his charity. This was a ve- 
ry difficult and laborous employment. The coun- 
try was so poor, that what provision he could get 
extreme hunger only made palatable. The bad- 
ness of the weather, and the badness of the roads, 
through a mountainous country, and at that sea- 

* Owing- to the dearth of fit and able men in those times, 
persons of Mr. Gilpin's character and talents, had licences 
to preach in different parts of the diocese, out of their 
own parishes. 



COMPARED WITH GEORGE HERBERT. 301 

son covered with snow, exposed him often to great 
hardships. All this he cheerfully underwent, es- 
teeming such sufferings well compensated by the 
advantages, which he hoped might accrue from 
them to his uninstructed fellow creatures. 5 '* 

The resemblance between George Herbert and 
Neff will be seen at once by comparing the minis- 
try of the latter with Herbert's description, and 
his own exemplification of the " Country Parson :" 
in his performance of the great and neglected 
duty of catechising, in the true sense of the word ; 
in his display of all the sympathies and affections 
of a pastor, and in corresponding reverance of his 
parishioners, who would leave their ploughs when 
his church bell rang for morning prayers, to attend 
the summons ; in his extraordinary love of sacred 
music, and persuasion that the introduction of it 
at hours of devotion is a strong help to piety ; 
and lastly, in the briefness of his career, which 
was shortened by his ministerial labours. Her- 
bert's and Neff's bed of sickness was to each a 
school of discipline, for which they were thankful 
and rejoiced. " I do not repine," said Herbert, 
" but am pleased with my want of health ; my 
heart is now fixed on that place, where true joy is 
only to be found. I praise God I am prepared to 
make my bed in the dark : I praise him, that I 
have practised mortification, and have endeavour- 
ed to die daily, that I may not die eternally." 
We have seen what Neff's dying bed was. 

Neff professed to make Oberlin his pattern, and 

* Gilpin's Life of Bernard Gilpin. 
26 



302 OBERLIN, AND HENRY MARTYN. 

the parellel between the two appears — in their 
charge of mountain parishes of wide extent, and 
in the prudent manner in which each devoted 
himself to the improvement of a half civilized 
and indigent population. So much has been said 
on this subject in the course of the present work, 
that it need not be further enlarged on. 

With equal justice may Neff, in his character of 
a missionary, be likened unto the devoted and self- 
denying Henry Martyn. Like him, he left his 
home for a distant country, when he was yet in 
his youth, and when his heart was still fondly 
clinging to objects of affection in his own dear 
land. Without any object of ambition, curiosi- 
ty, or avarice, he took up his pilgrim's staff, and 
went forth among a strange people, whose habits 
and language were new to him; and laying all 
that he had, — his time, his abilities, his knowledge, 
— and all that he was, on the altar of his Eedeem- 
er, he encountered deprivations and hardships of 
every kind, for a race who had no other claim up- 
on him, than that they were of the human spe- 
cies, and of the Protestant faith. " With the 
Gospel in his hand, and the Saviour in his heart," 
he went his way, braving the rage of climates, and 
submitting to the druggery of learning an un- 
known tongue, and to the disagreeable necessity 
of seeking society which was oftentimes offensive 
to him, and of enduring all things, and becoming 
all things, in the patient hope of being the means 
of saving some. But as it was with Martyn, so 
with Neff, when he was once embarked in the 
cause to which he had consecrated himself, noth- 



TESTIMONIES OF NEFF's SERVICES. 303 

ing then moved or disgusted him, but every liv- 
ing creature, in whom he took an interest, was 
soon entwined around his affectionate heart. 
There are many things in the sort of life which a 
missionary pastor must lead, which' are so revol- 
ting to the natural man, that no feelings of mere 
kindness or benevolence can enable him to endure 
them. It is the power of the Gospel working in 
his heart, which can alone sustain the Christian 
under them. 

The following testimonies to the conduct, and 
services of the estimable subject of this memoir, 
will close this review of his character. They are 
taken from the Reports of the Continental Socie- 
ty, whose agent he was for many years. With- 
out professing to approve of all the measures of 
this association, or to subscribe to all the senti- 
ments* advanced in their printed statements, I 

* Is it wise, is it just, to make such sweeping charges as 
the following 7 — the first is contained in one of theReports 
of the Society, and the second in a speech delivered at 
the Society's general meeting, and is published in one of 
its annual statements : 

" And it is of the utmost importance that all persons, 
who desire that the preaching of the Gospel may be heard 
on the Continent, should bear continually in mind that 
there the word 'Protestant 5 means nothing- but a person 
who does not go through the ceremonies prescribed by 
the Church of Rome, and who has, together with the 
superstitions, for the most part, renounced also every fun- 
damental of Christianity." 

" We have also heard to-day, what Continental Protest- 
antism is. And if I were to state what, in my opinion, it 
is, from my own examination, I would say, it is composed 
half of the Deist, and half of the persecuting- spirit of the 
Papist. In fact, the very spirit of persecution on the con- 



304 TESTIMONIES TO NEFF's SERVICES. 

cannot forbear taking this opportunity of observ- 
ing, that the thanks of every true Christian are 
due to a Society, which brought forward and fos- 
tered such a man as Felix Neff, which furnished 
him with the pecuniary means of discharging the 
duties of an authorised pastor of the established 
Protestant Church of France, when the regular 
stipend was withheld for want of letters of natu- 
ralization, which the government offices vexatious- 
ly delayed to send him, and which generously 
continued to remit his salary to him, during his 
last illness, for many months after he had ceased 
to be one of its labourers. Something objection- 
able to our own pre-conceived opinions of what 
is most expedient may be found in every religious 
and benevolent society, but we are not justified in 
seeking an excuse in this, for refusing our just 
praise to what is truly good and beneficial. 

" One of the agents of the Society, Mr. Neff, la- 
bours as suffragan to a Protestant pastor, among 
these mountainous districts, and visits different 
places where the truth was formerly held so pure 
amidst all the corruptions of the days of anti-chis- 
tian tyranny, but where now little else than mere 

tinent is not only allowed, but encouraged by those very 
persons who call themselves Protestants : When we hear 
of Protestantism, we think it is something* like our own 
Protestanism of the Bible : but that is not the Protestant- 
ism of the Continent ; the Protestantism of the Continent 
is a system, from which the whole of true Christianity is 
excluded but the forms. In fact, Sir, of the two, if I were 
to judge, I should say, I do believe that Popery is the best. 
Is not, then, the institution of such a Society as this indis- 
pensably necessary ?" 



TESTIMONIES TO NEPP's SERVICES. 305 

nominal Christianity is to be found. With inde- 
fatigable zeal he ascends the mountains, and de- 
scends into the valleys, to preach, and catechize 
the children of the inhabitants 5 often meeting 
with great opposition, and many difficulties arising 
from their ignorance and prejudice against the 
Gospel. He has been the instrument of a con- 
siderable revival in some parts, and in one district, 
more than two hundred children are under his 
superintendence as catechumens, of whom he 
speaks in the following terms; — 'I cannot too 
earnestly recommend to your remembrance at the 
throne of God, and of the Lamb, this numerous 
family. Probably, there is not on the whole con- 
tinent another flock of two hundred catechumens 
under the care of the same pastor, instructed in 
pure doctrine with so much simplicity, and solely 
founded on the New Testament." 

" Neff is the spiritual father of these and also of 
several others in the churches I afterwards visited. 
He is particularly calculated for this parish, being 
capable of undergoing fatigue, indifferent about 
the conveniences of life, full of zeal, preaching at 
the end of a long days march, in the mountains, 
with unabated energy. The churches being sepa- 
rated far from each other, in a difficult and miser- 
able country, only a person of such qualities could 
discharge with efficiency the duty of a minister. 
The inhabitants are a race of the most simple 
habits, and until Neff came amongst them, quite 
ignorant. Dormilleuse, Minsas, and Violins, are 
altogether Protestant : the lower valleys contain 
manv Catholics, Dormilleuse is the highest of 
26* 



406 TESTIMONIES TO NEFF's SERVICES. 

all, and of difficult access ; the snow, I am told, 
lies eight months on the ground, and they have 
but a small tract of poor land to furnish their 
subsistence; this retreat has been at all times 
inaccessible to the superstition of Rome, whether 
acting by violence or persuasion. The last at- 
tempt to convert them was of the latter nature ; 
a church was built, and a cure sent to reside among 
the simple inhabitants, but he was not able to gain 
a single proselyte. The committee will not right- 
ly appreciate the valuable services of NerT, without 
taking into their view the revival that has taken 

place in the parish of . Mr. , the 

pastor, owes his own self, also to NerT." 

" Before concluding, I have to mention to you 
the existence of a few more Protestant communi- 
ties, inhabiting the mountains of Haut Dauphine, 
near Briancon in France, and only separated by 
a high Alp from the valleys of the Vaudois. I 
was within a few hours' walk of them, and if the 
passage had not still been blocked up by snow, I 
should have gone thither. There is at present a 
Mr. NerT amongst them, who does the duty alter- 
nately at the six different churches. From all I 
have heard of him, he seem to be pervaded by a 
truly evangelical spirit, and has been the means 
of producing a great awakening amongst the 
people. I was confirmed in my opinion by the 
account given of him by the venerable Mr. M — , 
1 Monsieur NerT, (he said,) etoit ici il n'y a pas 
long temps, et il a preche dans mon Eglise. C'etoit 
un discours excellent et d'accord avec Pevangile ; 
bien calcule de faire une bonne impression. C'est 



TESTIMONIES TO NEFF's SERVICES 307 

un veritable enfant de Dieu et qui fait beaucoup de 
bien : il ne craint ni de fatigues, ni de froid, ni de 
privations d'aucune sorte. II a passe tout l'hiver 
dans ies montagnes, et on ne joue plus comme 
auparavant, on ne danse plus ]es dimanches, les 
gens semblent inspires par un esprit et une xele 
pour la religion, comme on ne se rapelle d'aucune 
autre epoque.' May his labours be crowned with 
still more and more success, and may he be the 
blessed instrument of turning many, many more 
from £ darkness unto light, and from the power of 
Satan unto God.' " 

Such were the testimonies rendered to the ser- 
vices of Felix Neff whilst he was yet alive, and 
in the exercise of his ministiy. Now that he is 
gone to his rest, may this record of his Christian 
Virtues have the effect of commending him, not 
only to the esteem, but also to the imitation of 
those to whom the memory of such men is dear. 



POSTSCRIPT. 



Since the preceding pages of this work went to 
press, I have been favoured with the following 
communication from Captain Cotton, whose in- 
teresting account of an excursion, in company 
with the lamented subject of this Memoir, will be 
received as a valuable addition to those reminis- 
cences which I had previously collected. 



" I spent several days with NefT in visiting the 
scattered hamlets of which he had taken the spir- 
itual oversight, and I was thus afforded a good 
opportunity of observing the zeal of that excellent 
man, his affection for the objects of his care, his 
singular fitness for ministering in a country of 
such peculiar natural and moral features, and the 
regard which his simple flock had for him. If 
the following transcripts from notes made at the 
time will be of service to your work, you are 
welcome to make whatever use of them you think 
proper. 

l < E. A. C » 



310 CAPTAIN COTTON^ ACCOUNT 

"At Palloiij at the entrance of the valley of 
Fressiniere, I met with Neff, who, full of spirits at 
my arrival, proposed climbing to the caverns that 
had served the inhabitants, in former times, both 
as places of refuge and of worship. Among oth- 
ers visited by us under the guidance of a native, 
there was one still called the Glesia or Eglise, 
whence many a time the prayers of the people, 
obliged to retire out of the reach of their oppres- 
sors, went up to the throne of mercy : — it is now 
but a small place, owing, it is said, to a slide of 
the rock. The opening is on the crest of a fright- 
ful precipice. The guide fearlessly entered it, 
though the rugged rock afforded scarce a hand's 
breadth to reach it by ; we squeezed through 
another opening. I do not know that I ever felt 
the power of association more strongly than when 
Neff and another, who accompanied us, chaunted 
Te Deum in that wild temple, the guide appear- 
ing the representative of the persecuted race. We 
entered also another cavern, said to have been 
used for a similar purpose, during the persecutions 
in the reign of Louis XVI. The last we entered 
seemed from below inaccessible. We gained it 
by the use of hands as well as feet. On return- 
ing to the Pallon I offered our guide a franc, but 
instead of taking it, he called Neff's attention to 
the circumstance, who bade me put the money 
into my pocket, and not feach the people bad hab- 
its. It was also with difficulty that I forced some 
money on the young man, who had been my guide 
from St. Laurent du Cros, when he returned ; for 
three days' labour, he felt himself repaid in the 



OF AN EXCURSION WITH NEFF. 311 

gratification derived from the journey, and in 
helping forward my object. From Pallon we 
mounted to La Ribe, the next village,, where we 
were received by M. Barridon, percepteur of im- 
pots in the district. 

" Neff held a reunion in his house in the course 
of the evening : it is by means of meetings of this 
kind principally that he effects the good he does 
in the mountains. His congregations are so dis- 
persed that he is of necessity in continual motion 
from one village to another. On arriving, per- 
haps after a toilsome walk of several leagues over 
the mountains, he calls the inhabitants together, 
and commences his service improviso. Those 
who assemble first, when in a private house or 
stable, where the assembly usually takes place in 
the winter, pass the time in singing hymns, the 
women spinning or knitting, till he appears. It 
is a simple service among simple people, several 
of whose hearts, however, are impressed with the 
Gospel. A table is placed for the minister ; some 
forms or chairs are brought for the rest, all sitting 
with a thick carpet of manure under their feet ; 
one or two lamps, suspended by strings, throw 
their light on the plain-featured, and plainly-attir- 
ed group, and show the cattle ranged at their 
mangers behind. Sometimes the hymns, that the 
congregation are singing at his entrance, furnish 
a subject for NefT's discourse, sometimes he ex- 
pounds a chapter of the Bible, or preaches from a 
text: singing and extempore prayer preceding 
and concluding the service; at other times he 
questions his auditory from a chapter, a mode of 



312 CAPTAIN COTTON'S ACCOUNT 

teaching well suited for private assemblies. For 
a minister to be useful among a population so sit- 
uated as that of the high Alps, it is necessary to 
have a heart overflowing with the Gospel, a 
lively solicitude for his people's souls, and a mouth 
which never tires of these doctrines that convert, 
console, and edify, however weary the body may 
be, and which, after the service performed, still 
loves to dwell on the all-important theme. 

" 1st November. — Having slept and breakfas- 
ted at Barridons, we went to Violins, a village sit- 
uated at the Combe : this word signifies, as in 
Devonshire, an abrupt narrow valley in the moun- 
tains. Let the etymologist discover how the in- 
habitants of Devon and Dauphiny came to possess 
the word in common. Divine service was per- 
formed by Neff in the new temple at Violins, af- 
ter which we proceeded upwards to Minsals, anoth- 
er small village, then enjoying during the day on- 
ly half an hour's sunshine, and about to lose the 
glorious luminary till the month of March : dur- 
ing the intervening cold months he never rises 
above the mountains so high as to dart his rays 
down to the poor cluster of cottages at Minsals. 
There is no comfort in the houses ; they are vaul- 
ted, perhaps to resist an extraordinary accumula- 
tion of snow ; the walls, though thick, are badly 
built, and within black with soot, and a single 
small window sheds a partial light into the gloo- 
my apartment. We paid, notwithstanding, a ve- 
ry interesting visit, in one of these dark dwell- 
ings, to a family named Besson, nine or ten in 
number ; all of them, I believe, are blessed with 



OP AN EXCURSION WITH NEPF. 313 

the light of the Sun of Righteousness, to cheer 
them in the absence of his type in the firmament. 
The inhabitants in all the valleys in this severe 
climate are accustomed to pass the winter in the 
stable along with their cows, sleeping in cribs 
erected for that purpose. 

" After this we returned to La Chalpe, 

where Neff presided at another meeting, previ- 
ously to bidding adieu to our friends ; we then 
descended the valley to Philippe, our friend at 
Moulins: here again a meeting of the neigh- 
bours was held in Philippe's stable ; they were 
mostly if not all Catholics. The example of the 
miller's family has doubtless excited some of these 
persons to think seriously about their salvation, 
and the interesting nature of NefPs meetings ; 
prayers which they can comprehend, and the mer- 
cies of God in Christ, plainly and affectionately 
set before them, occasion those who have heard 
once to desire to hear again, and to bring others. 
The different services of this day, except a few 
prayers in the temple, were all extempore. Whe- 
ther tired or not, Neff is at all times ready to be- 
gin, thinking he never does enough. We passed 
the evening by Philippe's fire-side, the women 
retiring behind to afford us the best places, and 
after a cheerful meal we retired for the night. 

" Early next morning we left our kind host's 
cottage, who evinced considerable emotion at part- 
ing. Returning to the point where we had left 
the valley of Queyras, we ascended by Chateau 
Queyras, which is a small fortress on a rock, com- 
manding the passage up and down the valley, at 
27 



314 CAPTAIN COTTON'S ACCOUNT 

Fousillarde, and were received with great joy by 
a warm-hearted and zealous convert, named An- 
dre Vasserot, who was prepared to undertake a 
school in the winter. It is one of Neff 's plans 
of amelioration to form and place pious school- 
masters in the villages, who may in some measure- 
supply the want of a minister, and especially im- 
plant, betimes, religious principles in the minds of 
the young. There was a lame youth so trained 
whom I saw at La Chalpe. The villagers were 
brought together for service in the temple, and we 
then proceeded through the snow, crossing and 
recrossing a wood of meleze, a species of fir, ta 
San Veran. A meeting was held here also, in a 
stable belonging to Pierre Sybille, in whose house 
we slept for the night, being at no great distance 
from the top of the ridge separating France from 
the valleys of Piemont. By daylight next morn- 
ing, we were on our way back, through the snow, 
to Guillestre, descending by the channel of the 
Guil to that town. After dining there, I mounted 
a wretched mule, and set off again for Fressiniere, 
Neff still walking. It was dusk before we reached 
Champcella, a village not far from Pallon. We 
put up here with a family of the name of Arnaus, 
who were, I believe, lately Roman Catholics, and 
much opposed to Neff's proceedings, but now 
greatly altered. Although Neff had been on foot 
from daylight, except during the time of breakfast 
and dinner, he called a meeting together in a 
neighbouring house, at which, notwithstanding 
the lateness of the hour, a considerable number of 
persons attended, and among them several Cath- 



I 



OF AN EXCURSION WITH NEPF. 315 

olics. To this hastily assembled crowd, he ad- 
dressed the divine word, and then spent some 
time with a sick person. Through the activity of 
Neffj I was on the back of a mule on the way to 
our friend Barridon's, at La Ribe, before daylight. 
We walked from thence to Minsals, and visited 
again the Christian family of Besson in ■ their 
stable, where it was so dark that w r e could not see 
all the inmates, till they came near the small 
window to show themselves. We mounted from 
this place, in company with some others, to Dor- 
milleuse, the highest of all the villages in Fres- 
siniere. One would imagine that no motive, but 
that of personal security, could have led to the 
construction of a village in that place. One side 
of the valley, as we ascended, appeared impracti- 
cable to the foot of man ; the meleze waves there 
on lofty ledges which seem inaccessible, yet the 
chasseur climbs among them, and the inhabitants 
I believe, derive from thence a supply of fuel : 
on the other side, between the mountain and the 
stream, enormous fragments are piled together 
or thrown about the small extent of flat ground 
which is susceptible of cultivation ; farther on we 
climbed by a tedious zig-zag path on the face of 
the mountain, over ruins, that having been split 
off by the frost or rain, had rolled from above. 
The nature of the slope was almost hid from the 
eye by a deep layer of snow ; large icicles were 
hanging from the cliff. As winter advances these 
increase in size and form, as I was assured, to 
stupendous columns, far more wonderful than the 
porticos effected by human labour, which are in- 



316 CAPTAIN COTTOK'S ACCOUNT 

tended to occupy the public eye from age to age, 
whereas those of the Almighty are renewed and 
dissolved year after year. 

"After a very toilsome walk we at length 
reached the remote village of Dormilleuse, one of 
the least and most retired of the many thousands 
of France, but particularly distinguished by Him, 
who seeth not as man seeth, in being preserved 
inviolate from the papal abomination. The houses 
are ranged above each other on a steep hill : the 
inhabitants are inoffensive and kind, and some of 
them are pious characters. The snow lying deep, 
several of the villagers were warming themselves 
on the sunny side of their cottages as we ap- 
proached. The people were soon assembled in 
the church for service, and here I observed the 
women kneel in those parts of the service in which 
the men stood. The church was built by govern- 
ment previous to the revolution, with a parsonage- 
house, and a cure was appointed for the village, 
in hopes by mild measures to gain over the people 
to the Roman religion ; but persuasion Was as in- 
effectual in this attempt as persecution in former 
instances — the priest met with no success ; he 
disappeared at the revolution, and has never been 
replaced : the inhabitants have free possession 
both of the church and of the house. NefF uses 
the latter as a school, having little need of a 
house, as he is continually on a journey ; he has 
here both a school for boys and for adults during 
the winter ; there is also a Sunday-school and a 
school for infants. 

" A crowd of people came into the house where 



OP AN EXCURSION WITH NEFF. 317 

we had taken up a place by the fire ; and Neff 
asking me if I had the courage to pass over the 
Cal d'Orcieres to Saint Laurent du Cros, to avoid 
making so great a circuit as we should do in going 
by the valley, the practicability of the measure 
was debated, and the opinion of an experienced 
Chasseur taken : his decision was that the passage 
might be performed if the weather should be 
clear and without wind. The danger from cloudy 
weather is the probability of snow falling : that 
from wind is greater, as It often causes so thick a 
cloud of snow as to hinder the traveller from see- 
ing his way. A perfect knowledge of the moun- 
tains is also requisite, as the drifted snow fre- 
quently conceals the danger of the path by lying 
lightly perhaps against a precipice ; and should 
the unwary traveller set his foot upon it, the mass 
is instantly set ir> motion, he is carried away with 
it, and never rises again. We saw while ascend- 
ing to Dormilleuse the effect of the wind, or, as 
it is called in the Alps, the tourmente, on the 
snowy summits of the mountains, they seemed to 
smoke like so many volcanoes. We intended by 
the laborious journey of the following day to save 
tirJ^ but we were as long in performing it as we 
should have been in going round about. I supped 
this evening on a marmot, and found it by no 
means bad fare ; it is a xich food, more like pork 
than any thing else. 

" The morning following proving clear and free 

from wind, we prepared for the fatigues of the 

day by a good breakfast ; my thick and heavy 

nailed shoes were covered with linen socks, and 

27* 



318 CAPTAIN COTTON'S ACCOUNT 

a string passed across my gaiters and round my 
ancles, to prevent the snow from entering. The 
mountaineers always take the precaution of secur- 
ing their feet from the admission of snow in a 
similar way. I was furnished like the rest with 
a staff, and we set out, eleven in number, the 
peasants having the laborious task of tracing the 
way for us. The first of the party had a very 
laborious task, appearing sometimes to be breast 
high, and it was necessary for the others succes- 
sively to take the lead : in this manner we passed 
over the dreary white and trackless waste, cross- 
ing several considerable eminences, though we 
were in a valley, compared with the ridges on 
each side. It might seem impossible for any 
living beings to make this their natural abode^ 
yet the wild is not left untenanted : the wolf and 
the bear are natives of the Alps, but require more 
shelter than is to be found in the tract we were 
passing over ; the lynx is sometimes, but rarely, to 
be found ; the marmot keeps himself as warm as 
he can in the earth ; the chamois ranges over the 
loftiest summits at perfect liberty —we saw a flock 
of them on the mountain to our right, far out of 
the reach of man. I was exceedingly fatigued 
and vexed to be continually sinking when the oth- 
ers trod firm. There is an art in following the 
leader's track ; great care must be taken to place 
the foot in the trace of him that goes before, and 
to follow with the same foot. At length the Col 
appeared before us. We had hoped to reach it 
before it would be necessary to take refreshment^ 



OP AN EXCURSION WITH NEFF. 319 

but our progress was so slow and our whole party 
so exhausted, as to render a meal necessary ; it 
being impossible to sit, we trod down the snow, 
and ate our bread and cheese and drank our wine 
standing, after which we started again. Neff 
sometimes took the place of leader, and in the 
most laborious part of the journey roused the 
spirits of the people by chanting hymns. At last 
the height was won, but not till two or three in 
the afternoon. A new waste of snow presented 
itself on the other side, but the labour of descend- 
ing was comparatively trifling ; having rested a 
short time, Neff, myself, and three mountaineers, 
on their way to Mens also, proceeded downwards 
from the Col. The kind people watched from 
the top till we were out of sight, being anxious 
about me, whom they saw to be an inexpert moun- 
taineer and quite tired. Instead of being in a 
valley as before, we passed over a country of an 
undulating surface, and descended very rapidly. 
Proceeding more by the general bearings of the 
country than by any landmarks, we descended 
several precipices, where I should never have 
hazarded myself alone, even had there been no 
snow. Some small lakes lie between the hills, 
probably furnishing the sources of the Drac which 
originates hereabouts. Some notion of the height 
at which we were, may be formed from the cir- 
cumstance of one of these lakes having been 
passed incautiously in the month of July by a 
man, who did not know he had been on the ice 
till he had crossed it ; we came afterwards among 



320 CAPTAIN COTTON'S ACCOUNT, &C. 

stone fences of fields under the snow, and a little 
lower down to a village, and shortly after reached 
the inn at Orcieres." 









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